--- title: "How to make a PDF fillable in Adobe" description: "You can turn an existing document into a fillable PDF in Adobe. Here's how to make a fillable PDF, along with tips for how to modify form fields." image: "https://images.ctfassets.net/lzny33ho1g45/create-pdf-p-img/86d457f1b603cb90f72772c064cda867/Group_9898.png" --- # How to make a PDF fillable in Adobe You can turn an existing document into a fillable PDF in Adobe. Here's how to make a fillable PDF, along with tips for how to modify form fields. I recently had to complete a stack of comprehensive medical forms, and for some reason, every page had to be filled in by hand. By no means am I against an opportunity to improve my poor penmanship, but by page 13, I was genuinely confused as to why I couldn't fill in these forms online.  I still don't know the answer to that, but what I do know is that digitally fillable PDFs make everyone's lives easier: there's no physical paperwork to print or store, it's more accessible, and no one has to worry about deciphering chicken scratch. Here, I'll show you how to make a PDF fillable in Adobe, along with tips for how to use and modify form fields.  Note: You need a paid Adobe Acrobat subscription to make a fillable PDF. If you don't have a subscription, Adobe offers a free seven-day trial.  **Table of contents**: - [How to make a fillable PDF in Adobe](#adobe) - [How to make a fillable PDF for free](#free) ## How to make a fillable PDF in Adobe With [Adobe Acrobat](https://acrobat.adobe.com/), you can create a fillable PDF from scratch or convert an existing file, like a Word document, into a fillable PDF. In my opinion, it's much easier to do the latter, so let's do that.  ### 1. Create your form in Microsoft Word or Google Docs  Let's say you're creating a boilerplate waiver. Type out the details as you normally would. For the spots where the user needs to add in their information—such as their name, initials, and signature—insert a horizontal line (enter a series of underscores) as a placeholder. When you convert your Word or Google Docs file into a PDF later on, Adobe will insert fillable form fields wherever it detects horizontal lines.  Here's an example of what that waiver might look like.  You can also use a table to create a classic intake form. Adobe will add fillable form fields wherever it detects empty table cells.  Once you've created your form, export it as a PDF. Here's [how to do that in Microsoft Word](https://zapier.com/blog/create-pdf/#word) and here's [how to do it in Google Docs](https://zapier.com/blog/create-pdf/#google-docs). ### 2. Make a fillable PDF Now that you've built your form, you're ready to make a fillable PDF.  1. Open Adobe Acrobat. 2. Click **Create**, and then click **Create a PDF**. 3. Click **Select a file**, and upload the PDF you just created. You can also drag and drop the file from your computer into Adobe. 4. Click **Create**. 5. Click **Edit**, and then select **Prepare a form**. 6. Adobe will ask you to re-confirm that the file you uploaded is the file you want to turn into a form. Click **Create form**. That's it. If there are no rogue form fields, you can probably share your form as is. But if you want to modify some of the fields, you can also do that. ### 3. Edit the form fields  Adobe offers a comprehensive guide on [how to customize PDF form fields](https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/pdf-form-field-properties.html)—there are endless possibilities. But for now, here's a broad overview of how to modify your fillable PDF.  As you work, you can click **Preview** in the _Prepare a form side panel _to make sure your form's shaping up the way you want it to. And Adobe doesn't auto-save changes, so be sure to save your work as you go.  #### Add form components By default, Adobe only populates text and eSignature fields when you convert an existing file into a fillable PDF. But you can insert a handful of other types of form fields—for example, you can insert checkboxes, dropdown lists, and date fields (this allows the user to choose a date from a calendar instead of manually entering the date).  1. In the _Prepare a form_ side panel, click the component you want to add. 2. Your cursor will turn into a rectangle, representing your selected field. 3. Click the spot on your form where you want to place the component. If you want to add the same component to other parts of your form, keep clicking to add. 4. Once you're done adding that one component, click the **Select text **icon in the floating toolbar (it looks like an arrow) to go back to using your cursor as normal. #### Modify general properties  Right-click a form field, and select **Properties **to change the following options: - **Name**. Giving each field a unique name makes it easier to keep your form organized, especially if you have a lot of form fields. This information is visible only to you and anyone else who has edit access. - **Tooltip**. When the user hovers over the form field, the tooltip tells them what to do. For example, the tooltip for a date field might read, "Select today's date." - **Form Field**. You can specify how the form field is seen: _Visible_, _Hidden_, _Visible but doesn't print_, _Hidden but printable_**_. _** - **Read Only**. This prevents the user from changing the content of the form field. - **Required**. This makes a field mandatory for the user to fill in. If someone attempts to submit the form without filling in all required fields, an error message will appear, and the empty required form field will be highlighted. #### Delete form components  If you want to swap out an existing form field for another, or you want to get rid of the field altogether, right-click it, and then select **Delete**.  ## How to make a fillable PDF for free  The one downside to using Adobe to make a fillable PDF is that it comes at a cost—the lowest paid tier is $12.99/month (billed annually). But there are plenty of other [PDF editor apps](https://zapier.com/blog/best-pdf-editor-apps/) on the market that allow you to make a fillable PDF for free.  Take [PDF.co](http://pdf.co), for example. For the low, low price of zero dollars (for a limited number of credits), you have all the tools you need to create a fillable PDF. And with [Zapier's PDF.co integration](https://zapier.com/apps/pdfco/integrations), you can connect it with thousands of other apps and orchestrate sophisticated workflows that go beyond filling in PDFs. For example, once a customer returns their filled-in PDF as an email attachment, you can automatically store it in [Google Drive](https://zapier.com/blog/save-gmail-emails-to-google-drive/). From there, [PDF.co can extract the relevant data](https://zapier.com/blog/parse-pdf-files-pdfco/), and Zapier can route that information into the tools your teams rely on—like creating a new record in your CRM or updating a row in a spreadsheet. Here are a few pre-made workflows to get you started. **Related reading**:  - [How to edit a PDF on Windows](https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-edit-pdf-on-windows/) - [How to open a PDF in Google Docs](https://zapier.com/blog/pdf-to-google-docs/) - [How to create a file tagging system to organize your files](https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-use-tags-and-labels/) - [How to merge PDF files for free (Mac and Windows](https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-merge-pdf-files)) - [The free Windows PDF editor that'll let you say so long to Adobe](https://zapier.com/blog/free-pdf-editor-windows/) _This article was originally published in August 2024. The most recent update was in December 2025. _