How to Fix Text Duplicates in All Form Fields of PDF: Reasons and Fixes

Fillable PDF forms have become quite popular recently due to the growing use of digital documents. Instead of spending time printing, filling, and scanning manual forms, fillable digital forms allow people to easily fill forms and share PDFs instantly. However, users sometimes experience a common issue, i.e., a text in one form field gets duplicated within the same or multiple other form fields. So, let's talk about this issue in this article and look for the best solution on how to fix text duplicates in all form fields of PDF.

Part 1. Text Duplicates in All Form Fields of PDF: Different Scenarios & The Corresponding Right Fixes

When creating fillable forms, we have to add fillable fields where we want other users to add their input. So, when you face text duplicates in all form fields of PDF, the issue is most likely linked to how you inserted the fillable fields. Below are two scenarios that can lead to this issue and their possible fixes:

Scenario 1: The Text Duplicates Within the Same Field

Some users have reported that inputting text in one field gets duplicated within the same field. For example, if you input the name "John", it will become "JohnJohn".

If you are facing this issue, the likely reason is that you have accidentally created a duplicate field, and the position of the duplicate is slightly offset from the original field. This way, it may seem like your text is duplicating, but it is actually getting entered into another duplicate field.

To fix this issue:

• Download UPDF and open the problematic fillable PDF document.

• Select the field duplicating the text and drag it away from its current position.
• Look if there was another duplicate field at that place and delete it.
• Drag the original field back to its original place.

This way, you can easily resolve the same field text duplicate issue.

Scenario 2: The Text Duplicates to Other Form Fields

Some users have reported another problematic scenario in which they experienced that the text they input in one field gets duplicated to some or all other form fields. For example, if you input the name "John" in the name field, it also gets automatically entered in the fields of address, contact, email, etc.

If you are facing this issue, then the likely reason is that you have accidentally created additional instances of one field. Simply put, you created a new field for the Name section and pasted the same field for the other sections. Now, what you have done is that you created additional instances of the one field. So, if you add any information in one field, it gets duplicated automatically to other fields.

To fix this issue, you must ensure the duplicate fields you create have different names. Below are the two ways to fix this issue:

1. Fix Text Duplicates to Other Form Fields with UPDF

UPDF is a powerful PDF editor tool that provides an extensive set of customization options with which you can easily make changes to existing form fields, such as changing field names, setting character limits, etc.

Therefore, you can quickly fix the issue of text duplicates in all form fields PDF with UPDF by following the below steps:

• Download and launch UPDF and open the fillable PDF form file you want to fix.

• Click the "Edit Form" icon from the left sidebar. It will now show the names of all the fillable fields in your form.
• Identify the fields with the same name. For instance, the below picture shows that the name, address, and email fields have the same "BUSINESS NAME" field name.

• Double-click the field whose name you want to change and enter its correct name in the "Name" section from the right sidebar.

• Rename the fields one by one until all have unique names.

That's it! Now, when you enter the name in one field, it will not duplicate to other fields.

Even if you want to create a duplicate field that shows in all or selective pages, you can create that easily with UPDF. Simply select the field you want to duplicate to other pages, click the "Duplicate across pages" from the top bar, and specify the pages.

In short, UPDF provides a one-stop place to easily customize PDF forms with its extensive set of features. So, download UPDF and easily create errorless PDF fillable forms right away.

2. Fix Text Duplicates to Other Form Fields with Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat is another popular tool you can use to fix text duplicates in all form fields of PDF issue. You can open the PDF with Adobe Acrobat, change the duplicate field names, and resolve the issue.

Follow the below steps to fix the text duplicates issue with Adobe Acrobat:

• Launch Adobe Acrobat and open the fillable PDF form file you want to fix.
• Click the "Edit" button from the top.
• Select one of the fillable fields with the duplicate name, right-click, and click "Properties".
• Under the "Name" section, change the field's name.
• Rename the fields one by one until all have unique names.

This way, you can easily fix the text duplicates in all form fields of PDF issue with Adobe Acrobat.

Part 2. Bonus Tip: A Cost-Effective PDF Editor That Provides Powerful Form Filling/Creating Features

With the growing use of fillable PDF forms, you need a powerful tool that can seamlessly create, fill, and edit PDF form files. This is where UPDF shines as the best PDF editor.

UPDF provides the simplest click-based interface with feature-rich functions to easily create interactive fillable PDF forms. It provides a central place to easily create, fill, and send PDF forms. Below are the key features you get with UPDF:

• Create Dynamic PDF Forms: Its intuitive interface allows you to craft personalized and interactive PDF forms with text fields, list boxes, radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, and buttons.
• Customize Fields Properties: It allows you to change the style and appearance, limit character, set multi-line, and do plenty of other customizations with the fields.
• Customize Fields Actions: It lets you specify the action for the field, like opening a web link, going to a page view, etc.
• Fill & Sign PDFs: It provides a seamless way to fill all fillable fields in PDFs and also create and sign electronically.
• Multiple Share Options: It provides multiple ways to share PDF forms, including via link, email, or QR code.

To learn more PDF form features, you can watch the below video.

Besides extensive PDF form filling/creating features, UPDF also offers other PDF editing and management tools. With UPDF, you can edit text/images/links, annotate, convert, compress, protect, and do a lot more with PDFs.

Overall, UPDF is an all-in-one PDF editor tool you need to create forms and do other edits with PDFs. So, wait no more. Download UPDF right now and create/fill PDF forms effortlessly. And you can get a big discount by clicking here if you want to upgrade to the pro version.

Part 3. FAQs About PDF Form Fields

Conclusion

The issue of text duplicates in all form fields of PDF can arise at any time to anyone. As mentioned in this guide, it is mostly due to duplicate fields with the same name. So, simply follow the steps discussed in this guide and fix the issue right away. The best approach is to use UPDF, as it provides a seamless way to fix issues with form fields and allows you to create personalized and interactive PDF forms. To sum up, download UPDF and create/customize/fill PDFs effortlessly.