Adobe Fill and Sign Not Working? Reasons with Fixes

Fill and Sign is one of the most important features provided by Adobe that lets you work on interactive documents. However, sometimes you may face the Adobe fill and sign not working issue even if you have the latest OS and hardware. It is usually because of a software or a PDF file issue. If you want to get rid of the problem, this article has got all the right solutions you need to try.

Part 1. Why is Fill and Sign Not Working in Adobe?

If this feature is not working on your PC then it could be because of several reasons including the following:

1. PDF File Problems: your PDF document could be password protected or it has non-interactive form elements. It could also be because of the interactive PDF elements being unresponsive due to some software issues.
2. Adobe Acrobat Software Issues: if your PC has outdated Adobe software, has compatibility issues with the document, or you have the protected mode, then you may face such issues.
3. Computer Issues: sometimes the software and the file are perfect, but the operating system is glitching. In that case you need to fix that by updating the software on your PC.

Part 2. The Most Effective Way to Fix Adobe Acrobat Fill and Sign Not Working

The most effective way to fix this issue with the fill and sign feature in Adobe is by using an Adobe fill and sign alternative like UPDF. With this way, you can fix all the software and PDF document related issues causing the problem. In fact, UPDF allows you to make the PDF editable, remove its password, and you can convert non-interactive PDF documents into interactive and fillable ones.

Although Adobe is a professional PDF Editing software, when it does not work, the best choice will be UPDF since it is cheaper, provides better performance on all types of hardware, and comes with advanced features like UPDF AI  and many others that are not available in Adobe Acrobat.

Way 1. Fix Adobe Acrobat/Reader Fill and Sign Not Working Via Removing Password

The first case is when you cannot use the fill and sign feature in Adobe is because of the PDF being password protected. Adobe does not allow users to edit documents that have password protection or permission enabled on them. UPDF allows you to remove the password but it is important to know the password to that document otherwise this method will not work since it is illegal.

So, if you know the password to that PDF document, you can download UPDF and follow these steps to make the PDF form work again.

Step 1: Launch UPDF on PC by double-clicking the desktop icon and use "Open File" button to open the PDF form. Click "Protect using password" > "Remove Security".

Step 2: You need to enter the password and follow the on screen guide to remove the password. It will show a success message when the password is authenticated and you can save the document. Now all the interactive PDF elements will start working and you can fill in and sign that document using UPDF.

Way 2. Fix Adobe Reader/Acrobat Fill and Sign Not Working Via Making the Non-Interactive PDF Forms Fillable

Sometimes the fillable PDF elements are visible in the document but they are not interactive because someone saved the document as flatten or they can become non-interactive due to some software issues. Luckily, UPDF offers you the "Form Field Recognition" feature that makes all those elements interactive again. Using this method you can automatically make the PDF form fillable again and add additional interactive elements as well. With the following steps:

Step 1: Open UPDF by using its desktop icon and open the non-interactive PDF form by using "Open File" option. Now click "Prepare Forms" and click the tools button indicated with a spanner and a screwdriver on the top right of menu bar. You need to click "Form Field Recognition" option and allow it to proceed.

Step 2: It will process the PDF document and make all the text fields, checkboxes, and other interactive elements interactive again. Now you can go to Reader mode and fill in those elements.

Step 3: If you want to manually add some interactive elements, you can click their option from the top menu bar and click in PDF where you want to add. All elements support repositioning and resizing so you can make the PDF form functional and attractive.

With these two methods, you can easily use the fill and sign feature on any PDF form with the help of UPDF. So, download UPDF today to fix issues with interactive PDF forms and get UPDF Pro to unlock all its premium features. You can explore more about the premium unlockable features and other functionalities of UPDF in this Tech Advisor review.

Part 3. 4 Common Ways to Fix Adobe Fill and Sign Not Working

If you don’t want to use an alternative tool but want to fix the issue with Adobe or PDF file instead, we also have multiple solutions that you can try. Here are the 4 common ways that can be helpful to you when fixing this issue:

Way 1. Remove Password to Fix Fill and Sign Not Working in Adobe

If the issue in your case is because of a forgotten password then you can use iLovePDF to remove the password permission from your document with the following steps:

Step 1: Go to iLovePDF Unlock PDF page and click "Select PDF File" to upload the PDF there.

Step 2: Click "Unlock PDF" and wait as it processes. Once your download is ready, click "Download Unlocked PDFs.

Way 2. Update or Reinstall Adobe Acrobat to Fix Fill and Sign Not Working in Adobe

If there is an issue with your Adobe software, then you need to update or reinstall this software since that will be the easiest way to fix the issue. So, whether the fill and sign feature is not working or there are some other problems as well, you may follow the steps below to fix Adobe:

Step 1: Launch Adobe Acrobat and click "Menu" > "Help" > "Check for Updates"

Step 2: Adobe software will start checking for available updates and you can install if any are available. Otherwise, you will get a message that no updates are available and in that case you must reinstall the software.

Step 3: if no updates were available then you must reinstall Adobe Acrobat by going to control panel and clicking "uninstall a program" > Right click and hit "Uninstall" on Adobe Acrobat.

Step 4: Go to Adobe website and pick the version of Adobe Acrobat you need and click "Download" and once installer is downloaded, start installing Adobe Acrobat with the installer.

Way 3. Change the Compatibility Mode for Adobe

If there is an issue with Adobe software, running it in compatibility mode can help.

Step 1: Right-click the Adobe software shortcut and click "Properties" > "Compatibility" and checkmark the checkbox in compatibility mode section. Now click "Apply" > "OK"

Way 4. Update the Computer System

Sometimes the issue lies with your operating system and updating your computer’s OS will help. So, you need to update your computer system and here are the steps for Windows users.

Step 1: Click Start menu icon and click gear icon to open settings. There you can click "Update & Security" option.

Step 2: Click "Check for Updates" and the OS will automatically download and install all the updates available.

Final Words

Adobe fill and sign not working: This error can be frustrating when you need to fill an interactive PDF document. However, the solutions we discussed here make it extremely easy to get things working again. The best choice will be UPDF for its solution to this problem and other features it brings that make working on PDFs a breeze. Download UPDF today if you are also facing such issues and enhance your PDF editing experience by purchasing UPDF Pro to unlock all premium features.