# How to sign a PDF on your iPhone and send it back today, without a printer

> The landlord emailed a lease and wants it back today. Here is the two-minute way, with no app and no account to download.

Canonical page: https://bettrpdf.com/blog/sign-a-pdf-on-iphone-and-send-it-back  
This file: https://bettrpdf.com/blog/sign-a-pdf-on-iphone-and-send-it-back.md  
Site index for agents: https://bettrpdf.com/llms.txt

Published 2026-10-24.

You tap the attachment in Mail and it opens a read-only preview. You can see the lease, but you cannot type into it, and the nearest printer is at a print shop across town. This is the most common way people get stuck with a PDF.

The built-in way: in Mail, long-press the attachment, choose Markup, then tap + and Signature. It works for a single signature on a simple PDF. It struggles with real form boxes, it often fails with "you do not have permission to save this document" on official forms, and it leaves you with copies named things like "Lease 2.pdf" with no clear final version.

The faster way: save the attachment to Files, open bettrpdf.com/fill in Safari and tap Open the PDF you were sent. Tap any box to type. Tap Sign, draw with your finger, then tap where it goes. Download is free with no account, or tap Send it back to email it straight to the landlord from your own Gmail.

If the PDF is a scan with no boxes, tap anywhere on the page to add text. If it is locked with an owner password, it still opens and fills.

Is a finger signature legal on a lease? For most residential leases in the US, UK and EU, yes. A signature you draw and place is a valid electronic signature under ESIGN, UETA and eIDAS. Some landlords ask for a specific e-sign service; if they do, use theirs.