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Having Problems with Fillable PDF Forms?

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If you can't type into a form field on a pdf, it may be due to a browser's default viewer for pdfs.

Fillable forms require Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC to fill them out online or on your computer. Many browsers use a different pdf viewer by default that doesn't support fillable form fields.

If you are using Edge, downloading the pdf is your only option because the Edge browser does not support fillable pdf forms.

Option 1: Download the PDF

When you download the pdf, you will use your computer to view the file:

  1. Make sure Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC is on your computer.

  2. Right click the pdf.

  3. Select Save Link As and choose the destination folder and filename for the pdf on your computer.

  4. Double-click/open the downloaded pdf.
    The file should open using Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader if these programs are on your computer.

 If the downloaded pdf file didn’t open correctly, you may need to change the default pdf viewer for the computer.  If you are using Windows 10, do the following:

  1. Go to the Control Panel > select Default Programs > select Set Associations
  2. Select .pdf.
  3. Click Change program button.
  4. Select Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC.
Option 2: Change a Browser’s Default Viewer

The steps to change a browser’s default pdf viewer depend on the operating system, browser and version. Feel free to search the web for more information on this topic.

Chrome

Make sure Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC is on your computer.

  1. Open the menu
     - icon with 3 vertical dots on top right of page

  2. Select Settings > select Advanced

  3. Under Privacy, select Content Settings

  4. Scroll to PDF documents
    Note: Steps 1-4 can be done by entering
    chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments in the url field.

  5. Depending on your version of Chrome,
    Turn off Open PDFs using a different application, or
    Open PDF files in the default PDF viewer application.

Firefox

Make sure Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC is on your computer.

  1. Open Firefox’s menu
    - icon with 3 horizontal lines on top right of page

  2. Select Options
    - little gear icon

  3. Scroll down to Applications and select Portable Document Format (PDF)

  4. Change the Action, from preview in Firefox to use Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC

Android

  1. Go to Google Play and
  2. Download Adobe Fill & Sign: Easy PDF Form Filler app
  3. Run Adobe Fill & Sign
  4. Select Web url and paste in the pdf’s url.

iOS

To have fillable pdf forms on the iPhone and iPad:

  1. Go to the App Store and get Adobe Fill and Sign (free, by Adobe)
  2. Run Adobe Fill & Sign.
  3. Select Web url and paste in the pdf’s url.

 

 

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