How to Sign a PDF on iPhone and Email It Back in Minutes

To sign a PDF on iPhone, open the file in the Files app or straight from Mail, tap the Markup button (the pen tip icon), tap the plus sign, choose Add Signature, draw your signature with your finger, then drag it into place and tap Done. Your iPhone remembers the signature, so the next document takes seconds. You can then add the date as a text box and send the signed PDF back by email.

That covers a one-page form. A lease or contract that needs initials on every page and a date next to each signature takes a little more care. The sections below walk through each case, plus the mistakes that get documents sent back to you.

What do you need before you sign a PDF on iPhone?

Very little. Check these three things first and you will avoid most problems:

• The PDF is saved somewhere you can reach it. If it arrived by email, you can sign it from Mail. If it came through a link, a messaging app or a website, tap Share and choose Save to Files first.
• You know where each signature goes. Scroll through the whole document before you start. A 6-page rental agreement often wants a full signature on page 6 and initials at the bottom of pages 1 to 5. Missing one is the most common reason a landlord or HR team asks you to redo it.
• Your iOS is reasonably up to date. Markup has been built into iPhone for years, but the menus have moved slightly between versions. If a button described here looks different, it is usually behind the same plus sign.

If the document only exists on paper, you will need to scan it first. Your iPhone can do this from the Files app (tap the three-dot menu, then Scan Documents) or from the Notes app. A scan saved as a PDF can be signed exactly like any other PDF.

How do you sign a PDF with the built-in Markup tool?

This is the free method every iPhone already has. It works well for one or two signatures.

1. Open the Files app and tap the PDF to open it.
2. Tap the Markup button. It looks like a pen tip inside a circle, usually at the top right or along the bottom.
3. Tap the plus sign (+) in the toolbar, then tap Add Signature. If you have saved signatures before, pick one or tap Add or Remove Signature to create a new one.
4. Sign in the box with your finger. Turn the phone sideways for more room. Tap Clear if the first attempt looks shaky, then tap Done.
5. The signature lands in the middle of the page. Drag it onto the signature line. Pull the blue corner handles to make it smaller. A signature that fills half the page looks odd; aim for about the height of two lines of text.
6. Scroll to any other page that needs signing and repeat steps 3 to 5.
7. Tap Done. The changes are saved into the PDF in Files.

A tip from experience: sign slower than you would on paper. Fast finger strokes come out jagged. If you have an iPad with an Apple Pencil, signing there gives a cleaner result, and the saved signature is often available on your other Apple devices signed into the same account.

How do you sign a PDF that arrived by email?

You do not need to save the attachment first. In the Mail app:

1. Open the email and tap the PDF attachment to preview it.
2. Tap the Markup button.
3. Use the plus sign to add your signature, place it, and add any text you need.
4. Tap Done. Mail will usually offer to reply with the marked-up document attached.
5. Check the recipient, add a short note such as "Signed copy attached," and send.

This is the fastest route when an employer, school or contractor emails you a form. One catch: the signed version lives in that reply. If you want your own copy, save the attachment to Files before you sign, or forward the sent email to yourself.

How do you add the date and initials to every page?

Markup can do this, but it gets tedious. For dates, tap the plus sign, choose Text, tap the text box that appears, type the date and drag it next to your signature. Use the format the document expects. In the US that is usually 04/15/2025 style; in the UK, Canada and Australia day-first formats such as 15/04/2025 are common, so writing the month as a word (15 April 2025) avoids confusion.

For initials, you can save a second "signature" that is just your initials, then add it page by page. On a 12-page contract that means opening the plus menu twelve times and resizing twelve times.

If you sign documents often, a dedicated signing app saves that repetition. I use Expert Sign for this step. You draw your signature once with your finger in black or blue ink, or import a photo of your handwritten signature and the paper background is removed. You open the PDF from Files, Mail or iCloud Drive (or a photo of a paper document), drop the signature where it belongs, pull the corner to resize it, then duplicate it to initial each page. Today's date goes in with one tap. The file stays on your iPhone, and when you are done you export it by email or hand it to another app.

Whichever tool you use, do a final scroll from page 1 to the last page before sending. Look for three things: every initial box filled, the signature sitting on the line rather than over printed text, and the date next to each signature.

Which way of signing a PDF on iPhone should you use?

All three options below produce a normal PDF that anyone can open. The difference is how much tapping each one takes.

Method	Best for	Saved signature	Adding the date	Drawbacks
Files app + Markup	PDFs saved on your phone or iCloud Drive	Yes	Manual text box	Repetitive on long documents
Mail + Markup	Forms that arrive as email attachments	Yes	Manual text box	Easy to lose your own copy
Dedicated signing app	Contracts with initials on many pages, frequent signing	Yes, several	Often one tap	One more app to install

For a single permission slip, use Markup. For a lease, an employment contract or anything you sign every week, a signing app pays off quickly.

Is a signature added on your iPhone legally valid?

In most everyday situations, yes. In the US, the federal ESIGN Act and state laws based on the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act generally give electronic signatures the same effect as ink for most contracts. The UK, Canada and Australia have their own electronic transactions laws with a similar general approach.

There are exceptions. Wills, some property deeds, certain court filings and documents that must be notarized or witnessed may need a wet signature or a specific process. Some banks and government agencies also require their own e-signature platform. When the stakes are high, check with the person or organization asking for the signature, or with a lawyer, before you rely on a drawn signature.

A signature drawn in Markup or a signing app is a picture of your signature placed on the page. It is not the same as a certificate-based digital signature that some institutions use to verify identity. If a sender asks for a "digital signature" with a certificate, they will usually send you a link to their own signing service.

How do you send the signed PDF back without problems?

The last step is where small mistakes happen. Run through this before you hit send:

• Send the PDF, not a screenshot. A screenshot of page 6 does not prove pages 1 to 5 were initialed. Attach the full file.
• Keep the file name clear. Rename it in Files (press and hold, then Rename) to something like Lease-123-Main-St-signed.pdf. The person receiving ten signed copies will thank you.
• Check the file size. A PDF made from photos can get large. Most email services cap attachments at roughly 20 to 25 MB, so check your provider if a big scan will not send.
• Keep a copy. Save the signed version in Files or iCloud Drive. If there is a dispute in a year, you will want the exact version you signed.
• Confirm receipt for important documents. A one-line reply asking "Can you confirm you received the signed contract?" closes the loop.

Once your signature is saved, the whole round trip, from opening the attachment to sending it back, takes about a minute. Markup handles the simple cases on its own. If you find yourself initialing long contracts every week, a tool like Expert Sign keeps your signatures and the date one tap away.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sign a PDF on iPhone for free?

Yes. The Markup tool built into the Files and Mail apps lets you draw, save and place a signature at no cost. Free signing apps are also available on the App Store if you want features like one-tap dates.

Where is my saved signature stored on iPhone?

Signatures you create in Markup are kept in the Add Signature menu behind the plus sign. Tap Add or Remove Signature there to delete one or create a new one.

Can I sign a paper document with my iPhone?

Yes. Scan it first with the Files or Notes app so it becomes a PDF, then sign it with Markup or a signing app and email the result back.

Why does my signature look jagged on iPhone?

Fast finger strokes on a small screen produce rough lines. Turn the phone sideways for a bigger signing area, sign more slowly, or import a photo of your ink signature in an app that supports it.

Is a signature drawn on an iPhone legally binding?

For most everyday contracts in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, electronic signatures are generally accepted. Wills, notarized documents and some official filings may have stricter rules, so check with the requesting party or a lawyer.