How to digitally sign PDF on computer or smartphone

From baby boomers to trendy gen Zs, everybody knows the convenience of electronic documents over traditional printed paper. Paper is not only outdated, it is also bad for the environment. Naturally, more and more organizations and individuals are moving towards the electronic medium. Digital Signatures are a result of that trend.

But what are they? Usually digital documents are shared in PDF formats and sometimes they require our signature. Therefore, we must digitally sign these documents using a stylus, inserting images of our signatures or digitally scanning the signed document.

Here is how you can digitally sign your important documents on your computer or smartphone:

Windows Users

The simplest way to digitally sign your documents on windows is using Microsoft Edge Browser. The browser comes with added functionality to digitally sign a pdf.

Just click on the ‘Draw’ button in the top right corner. Using your mouse or if your device has touch input, then using your stylus or fingers draw your signature on the document.

Android Users

Install Adobe Acrobat and open the PDF document. Click on the circular button, which has a pencil on it in the bottom right corner.

Now click on the pen icon in extreme right. Choose "Create Signature". Now you can either draw on the screen. Use your camera to show the app your signature on a physical paper or import a signature from an image.

Apple User (Mac)

Mac comes with this functionality pre-built in its OS.

Locate the file in the finder and select the ‘open with preview’ option after right clicking it. Click on the Markup button situated beside the search icon.

Select ‘Sign’ option. After selecting the option you can either draw your signature on the trackpad or show your signature on physical paper to the camera.

Apple User (iPhone and iPad)

You can use the Mail app to digitally sign your documents on iPhone or iPad. Here is how to do it.

Open the attachment on the mail app and click the Markup button in the top right corner. Tap on the pen icon. You can now either draw your signature on the screen, show a physical copy of the signature to the camera or import from an existing image.

You can also install the Adobe Acrobat app on your apple smartphone and follow the same steps outlined in the android user section of this guide.

FAQs:

1. How do you digitally sign on windows?
   Using Microsoft Edge.
2. How do you digitally sign on Android and Apple smartphones?
   Adobe Acrobat’s Fill & Sign functionality.