Sign a PDF on your phone, with a finger and no app

Sign it on your phone now

Sign PDFDraw, type or upload; flatten on save. Free, runs on your device.Open

On a phone the editor uses the full screen: the page in the middle, the tools along the bottom, Save at the top.

Step 1: get the PDF from your mail into the tool

1. In your mail app, open the attachment and save it to the phone: on an iPhone, the share button, then Save to Files; on Android, the download icon on the attachment.
2. Open this page in Safari or Chrome and choose the file in the tool above. It opens in the editor with the Sign tool picked.

Nothing travels anywhere in this step. The file is read by your browser on the phone itself, which is also why it works for a contract you would rather not upload to a website.

Step 2: draw your signature with a finger

1. Tap New signature in the bar above the tools. The signature pad slides up from the bottom.
2. Pick the ink, Black or Blue, and sign in the white area with your finger. A finger on glass draws a steadier line than a mouse does. If you prefer, turn the phone sideways: the pad becomes wider and lower, and the buttons stay on screen.
3. Not happy? Clear and sign again; it costs nothing.
4. Tap Use this signature.

The other 2 tabs work on a phone too. Type writes your name in a handwriting style. Upload takes a photo of your signature on paper and makes the paper see-through; the paper signature guide shows how to take that photo so it comes out clean.

Step 3: place it on the line, then add the date

1. The bar now says “Tap the page where it goes.” Zoom in with 2 fingers on the signature line first if the page is small, then tap just above the line. The signature lands about 6 cm wide on the page, starting where you tapped.
2. It is selected now. Drag it to sit on the line, and drag a corner to resize it to the length of the line. Pinching zooms the page, not the signature.
3. If the document has a real signature field, it shows a dashed box with Sign here. Tap that instead and your signature fits itself into the box.
4. For the date, tap Date (it shows today’s date), then tap beside the signature.
5. More signature lines? Your signature stays as a small chip in the bar while the tab is open, also for the next file you open in it: tap the chip, tap the page.

Step 4: save and send it back

1. Tap Save. The editor writes a new file with “-edited” added to the name and your browser saves it to its downloads: on an iPhone usually Files, then Downloads; on Android, the Download folder.
2. If you filled form fields as well, use More, then Save flattened PDF instead, so the answers are fixed into the page. The signature itself is written into the page in either case.
3. Go back to the mail thread, reply, attach the saved file from Files or Downloads, and write 1 line saying what it is (“The signed lease, page 4. Jane Cooper”).

If the phone drops the browser tab while you switch to the mail app, your work is not lost: the editor keeps a recovery copy in the phone’s browser, and opening the tool again offers Recover. It is deleted when you close the file.

Is the iPhone’s own Preview enough?

Often, yes, and it is fair to say so. Since iOS 26 the iPhone has a Preview app that opens PDFs from Files, fills simple forms and adds a signature you draw with a finger, and it keeps saved signatures for next time (MacMost and Jotform walkthroughs, checked on 11 October 2026). For 1 signature on a 1-page letter, that is the quickest route on an iPhone.

On a phone	iPhone Preview (iOS 26)	getPDF in the browser
Draw a signature with a finger	Yes	Yes
Type it or upload a photo of your ink	Drawing confirmed; typing and photos not checked	All 3
Remembers your signature next time	Yes, saved on the phone	No, kept only while the tab is open
Fills a “Sign here” field at its size	Not checked	Yes
Saves a flattened copy of a filled form	Not checked	Yes
Works the same on Android and on a computer	No, Apple devices only	Yes, any modern browser
Uploads your file	No	No

The rows marked “not checked” are features we could not confirm from Apple’s own documentation; try them on your phone before relying on them either way.

The honest part

A long form is miserable on a phone screen. 1 signature and a date are fine. A 6-page application with 40 fields means zooming, scrolling and fat-finger mistakes. Save what you have, send the file to yourself, and finish on a computer; the file carries everything you did. Filling a form on your phone has the tricks for when you must.

Your signature is not remembered. It stays ready while the tab is open, also for the next file you open in it, and is forgotten when you close the tab; it never goes to a server. The document you are signing, signature included, is kept as the recovery copy described above until you close the file. If you sign on your phone often, keep a photo of your paper signature in your photos and upload it each time, or use the reusable signature routine.

A finger-drawn signature is a simple electronic signature. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, and getPDF does not make those. For leases, offers and everyday forms that is what everyone uses; the law, explained plainly, covers the few cases that need more. This is not legal advice.

Editing the text itself on a phone is a different job: editing a PDF on your phone covers that, and the pillar guide to signing and filling covers the rest on a bigger screen.