Guides

The most common signing mistakes

Pasting a signature image into a document and sending it by email with no record of who did it is the classic one. It may be fine for an informal form, but it leaves you with little evidence if the other side later disputes the agreement.

Another is signing the wrong version. When contracts go back and forth, make sure the file you sign is the final agreed version, and that everyone signs the same file. Sending the document through one e-signature request solves this, because every party signs the same PDF and the certificate records its fingerprint.

A third is forgetting to keep a copy. Always download the final signed PDF, and the certificate of completion when there is one, and store them with your other records.

Practical guides to signing documents online

Our guides answer the questions people actually search for: how to sign a PDF on a Mac, iPhone or Windows, how to electronically sign a Word document, the difference between digital and electronic signatures, and how to move away from tools that no longer fit.

Each guide gives step-by-step instructions first, then explains the context, including when a method is fine and when you need something more robust.

How we write our guides

We test the steps ourselves, use the built-in tools on your device where they exist, and mention our own tools only where they genuinely help. If your operating system can already do the job, we will tell you so.

We date guides and update them when software changes. Menus in apps like Preview, Acrobat or Word move around, so if something looks different on your device, the principle usually still applies.

Our take on signing securely

Two habits make the biggest difference. First, be careful where you upload sensitive documents; prefer tools that process files on your device, like our free Sign PDF tool. Second, when other people sign, use a service that records an audit trail, so you can show who signed and when.

Watch out for signing requests that arrive unexpectedly or ask you to log in with your email password. Real e-signature requests do not need your email password, and phishing emails often imitate well-known signing services.

Where to go next

If you need to sign a single document, start with the free Sign PDF tool or the signature generator. If you need to collect signatures, eSignSimple's free plan includes 5 documents a month with templates, reminders, signing order and a full audit trail.

For the legal background, our legality pages explain how e-signatures are treated in different countries, and our glossary defines terms such as audit trail, eIDAS and QES.