How to Fill Out a PDF Form Online for Free
Filling out a PDF form used to mean either printing it, writing by hand, and scanning it back in, or paying for software like Adobe Acrobat. Neither option is great when you just need to complete a W-9 before a deadline or submit a government form. This guide walks through how to fill PDF forms for free using a browser, and covers the tricky situations: forms with no fillable fields, checkboxes, and multi-page documents.
Understanding fillable vs. flat PDF forms
Not every PDF is the same. There are two fundamentally different kinds you will encounter:
Fillable PDFs (AcroForms) have interactive fields built into them. When you open one in a PDF editor, the fields are highlighted and you can click directly into them. The W-9, W-4, I-9, and most IRS and government forms downloaded directly from their official sources are fillable PDFs. You can tell because when you open the file in a browser, you can click the boxes and type.
Flat PDFs are essentially images of forms. They might have been created by scanning a paper form, or by printing an original document and re-saving it. There are no interactive fields. Visually they look identical to a fillable form, which is why people get confused when clicking on them does nothing.
The approach is different for each type. For fillable PDFs, use the Fill tool. For flat PDFs, use the Add Text tool to place text at the right position on the page.
Step-by-step: filling a standard fillable form
Go to totallyfreepdf.com and either drag your file onto the upload area or click to browse. The editor loads in a few seconds. Your file is never sent to any server.
The toolbar at the top shows four buttons: Fill, Redact, Sign, and Add Pages. Fill is selected by default when you open a document. If you've switched to another tool, just click Fill to return to it.
Fillable fields appear with a faint highlight over them. Click any one and start typing. Press Tab to jump to the next field in the form's logical order, or click directly into any other field. For checkboxes, just click to check or uncheck them.
Take your time going through the document. You can scroll up and down the page panel on the left to navigate between pages. The canvas in the center shows the active page. All your entries are visible in real time.
Click the Download PDF button in the top-right corner. The file saves to your device with all your entries embedded. There are no watermarks, no branding added to your form, and no paywall screen.
Filling out common government and tax forms
Form W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number)
The W-9 is the most common form businesses request from contractors and freelancers. Download the current version directly from irs.gov. The IRS version has proper AcroForm fields. Upload it to the editor, fill in your name, business name if applicable, federal tax classification, address, and TIN or Social Security number, then sign using the Sign tool. Download and send it off.
One common confusion on the W-9: the "Business name/disregarded entity name" field on line 2 is only for LLCs and certain other entities. If you operate as a sole proprietor under your own name, leave line 2 blank and put your own name on line 1.
Form W-4 (Employee Withholding Certificate)
Employers ask for a W-4 when you start a new job. The current version (revised in 2020 and updated periodically) has five steps, though only Steps 1 and 5 are required for most people. Download the current W-4 from irs.gov, fill it in the editor, and print or send the completed PDF to your HR department.
Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification)
The I-9 is a two-section form. Employees complete Section 1 on or before their first day of work. The employer completes Section 2 within three business days. Download the current I-9 from uscis.gov. The official version has fillable fields for both sections. You can fill your section, download it, and give the completed copy to your employer to finish their portion.
State and local government forms
Most state tax agencies, county courts, and local government offices now publish fillable PDFs on their websites. The process is the same: download from the official source, open in the editor, fill the fields, download. If the form requires a notary or wet signature, you may still need to print after filling.
What to do when a PDF has no fillable fields
If you open a PDF and no fields light up when you click in Fill mode, the form is a flat PDF. This happens often with scanned forms, older government documents, and forms created from printed originals.
The solution is the Add Text tool. Switch to it from the toolbar, then click anywhere on the page to place a text box. You can choose the font (Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier), adjust the size, and toggle bold or italic. Move the text box to sit over the answer field on the form, then download. It takes a few extra minutes compared to clicking pre-built fields, but it works on any flat PDF.
Checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdown fields
Standard AcroForm checkboxes work by clicking. A checked box shows a checkmark or an X, depending on how the form was built. Radio buttons work the same way: click one to select it, and the others in the group deselect automatically. Dropdown fields show a list of options when you click them; select the one you want and it fills in.
Some older forms use checkboxes that are not proper AcroForm elements. They are just drawn as boxes on a flat PDF. For those, use the Sign tool to draw a small checkmark and position it over the box.
Multi-page forms and navigation
When a form has multiple pages, all pages load in the editor. The Pages panel on the left shows thumbnails of every page. Click any thumbnail to jump to that page. Your entries on other pages are saved as you navigate, so you can go back and forth freely without losing anything.
Saving your progress
The editor does not auto-save to a cloud account. Your work lives in browser memory while the tab is open. If you need to stop partway through and come back later, click Download PDF to save your progress as a partially filled PDF. You can re-upload that file later and continue where you left off.