You opened a fillable PDF, but found the texts in the file needed to be modified, the font/color/size in the fillable field needed to be adjusted, the box or list needed to be updated, or there are other things you want to edit with. And the most difficult part of editing a fillable PDF is to modify after signing and saving, because the PDF form will be locked and made as read-only after filling and signing.

The standard way to edit a fillable PDF is to use a solid PDF editor app, but you might know few about PDF editor apps. Beyond all doubt, Adobe Acrobat is the best PDF editor in the world, it can edit fillable PDF with full control, even after saving. But maybe you don’t want to pay the company any money for editing an unlocked PDF form. So we’re going to focus on 3 ways to edit a fillable PDF in Adobe Acrobat or without Acrobat, you can choose at least one to edit yours.

Table of Contents

Can Someone Edit a Fillable PDF if They Only Have Reader?

It depends.

If the fillable PDF is blank without any filling or certified signature, yes, a simple PDF reader can let users enter and edit texts into a PDF form.

If the fillable PDF has been filled and signed, it has been saved as well, then no reader is able to edit the PDF form anymore, including the powerful Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Edit a Fillable PDF, even after Saving

Adobe Acrobat is a real powerhouse when it comes to edit a PDF across different devices. Editing a fillable PDF in this app is very straightforward, all you need to do is import the file and head to Edit PDF tool to edit texts outside of the fillable fields, to edit a fillable filed, use its form tools, you will get full control of everything about the fillable elements, including font, font size, text color, position, alignment, action, valuation, calculation, etc.

Though a PDF form won’t be allowed for modifying after filling, signing and saving in Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat offers a way to remove the restrictions and lets users continue with the form editing.

Besides edit PDF, Acrobat includes a wealth of other tools: create, scan and OCR, export, fill form, sign, share, compare, flatten, add audio/video/image, measure, protect, redact, and so on.

How to Edit a Fillable PDF Form before Saving in Adobe Acrobat?

  1. Grab the free trial of Adobe Acrobat, install and fire up the app.
  2. Open PDF in it, you can easily fill the form by entering the texts into the blue fillable boxes.edit pdf form adobe 1
  3. To edit texts outside a fillable text box, head to Edit, select the texts and modify as you like.edit pdf form adobe 2
  4. Then hit the Save button.

How to Edit Fillable PDF after Saving in Adobe Acrobat?

  1. Grab the free trial of Adobe Acrobat, install and fire up the app.
  2. Open PDF in it, you will find the form is not fillable after signing.edit pdf form adobe 3
  3. Then head to All tools> View more> Prepare a form.edit pdf form adobe 4
  4. All the fillable fields are auto detected and listed out on the right side. Select the fields that you want to edit, double click on it. Uncheck “Locked”, then unlock “Read Only”. Hit Close.edit pdf form adobe 5
  5. Preview the form, and you will find the form is editable now. Then Exit preview.edit pdf form adobe 6
  6. Hit Save button.

Watch this YouTube video to edit your PDF form after signing and saving with Acrobat:

Edit Fillable PDF Free

Adobe Acrobat might not be the first app you would think of editing a fillable PDF, you might want a free solution. You will get a couple of free options here to edit a fillable PDF, but no one allows editing properties of a fillable filed, you can just fill in PDF form or add fillable filed.

#1 How to Edit Fillable PDF Free – Filling in

Web browsers are good PDF viewer and PDF form editor, most of them let users to view, markup and fill in a PDF form, like Google Chrome.

  1. Open fillable PDF in Chrome browser by drag and drop the file icon to its tab.
  2. Fill texts into the filed.edit fillable pdf free 1
  3. Click the download button and choose to save with your changes.edit fillable pdf free 2

#2 How to Edit Fillable PDF Free – Editing fillable texts or adding fillable fields

Docfly is a web form editor with basic editing feature, you can add text, image, checmark, cross mark, link or highlight the PDF, also you can change the fillable text’s font, font size, alignment and color.

  1. Navigate to docfly.com/editor in your web browser.
  2. Upload the file.edit fillable pdf free 3
  3. Head to Form Creator, fill texts into the fields and change the properties.edit fillable pdf free 4
  4. Or in the Form Creator, add new fillable fields to your PDF.edit fillable pdf free 5
  5. Click Save.
  6. Hit Export to download the file, you can only download 3 edited files for free.edit fillable pdf free 6

Conclusion

To edit a fillable PDF, if you mean to fill in the texts and change the appearance, docfly is available free to use, but you mean to edit texts in a fillable PDF, or edit the fillable fields properties, Acrobat seems to the best option, no one will be created equally excellent as Acrobat to work with a form.