Walkthrough: Filling Out and Signing a Lease Online

Your landlord sends over a PDF lease that needs your name, ID number, and move-in date filled in, then a signature — this is one of the most common real-world PDF tasks. Here's a complete workflow for it.

Step 1: check whether the lease has fillable fields

Click the blank fields for name, ID number, and see whether a text cursor appears. If they're real form fields, just type directly. If clicking does nothing (true of most scanned or image-based leases), you'll need to fill it in manually with the Text tool — see our article on filling out a PDF form with no fillable fields.

Step 2: fill in each field with the Text tool

Open LocalPDF and use the "Text" tool to click through each blank field — name, ID number, contact info, move-in date — and type in the corresponding information. Zoom in first so text lands precisely on the right line or box.

Step 3: review terms and flag anything to confirm

Key details like rent amount, lease term, and penalty clauses are worth marking with the "Highlight" tool so you (or the landlord) can double-check them easily. If something's unclear, box it with the "Rectangle" tool to raise separately with the landlord.

Step 4: add your signature

If you already have a signature image (a transparent-background PNG works best), insert it with the "Image" tool and align it on the signature line. Without one, hand-draw a signature directly with the "Draw" tool — a trackpad or touchscreen gives a more natural result.

Step 5: review everything, then download

Switch back to Select, zoom out to check the whole document at once, confirm every field and the signature look right, then click "Download."

A note on privacy

ID numbers and contact details are sensitive — the whole process with LocalPDF happens inside your own browser, and the lease's content is never uploaded to any server (see our article on how LocalPDF keeps files 100% private for the technical details).