Sign a PDF for free without uploading it anywhere

Somebody sends a contract, a consent form or a rental agreement and asks for it back signed. You do not need a subscription for this, and on most devices you do not need to upload the file either. The full comparison of free tools, plus the steps for every device, is at https://sign-pdf-free.com/

Mac

Open the PDF in Preview. Click Show Markup Toolbar, then the Sign button. You can create the signature on the trackpad, hold a signed sheet of paper up to the camera, or sign on a connected iPhone or iPad. Apple saves it, and if you use iCloud Drive it appears on your other Macs.

Drag the signature onto the page and resize it with the handles.

iPhone and iPad

Open the file in Files or Mail and tap the Markup button. Tap the plus button, choose Signature, and sign with a finger or an Apple Pencil. Place it, then tap Done. iOS 26 also added a Preview app that does the same job with fewer taps.

Windows

Windows has no signing feature of its own. Edge, which opens PDFs by default, gives you a Draw tool that saves ink into the file, and Microsoft lists signing as one use for it. That is a drawing, not a signature with a certificate behind it.

For something closer to a real signing flow, install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and use Fill and Sign. You can type a name, draw one, or insert an image, then save the file at no cost.

Android

No built-in option. The Google Drive app lets you annotate a PDF with a pen, but Google documents no signature tool. Acrobat Reader for Android has Fill and Sign, with one catch worth knowing: Adobe says the PDF flattens on save and cannot be unsigned afterwards.

If you have to use a browser tool

Check two things before uploading. How long does the service keep the file, and does it want an account? Anything with an ID number or a payment detail in it is better signed on your own device.

When the signature vanishes

Most free tools add the signature as an annotation, which some viewers and processing systems quietly drop. Flattening merges it into the page. Preview on a Mac causes the opposite problem. Re-saving a signed PDF there can make a viewer report the document as altered.

A last word on typed names

A typed name is usually enough for an ordinary agreement. What it does not do is prove who typed it, which is what audit trails and certificate-based signatures are for.