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You can’t sign your name to a Google Form. You can add all the data an application or waiver might need in a Google Form, but there’s no way to scribble your name and make things official.
What you can do, instead, is create a PDF document automatically from your Google Form, and sign that document—digitally or on paper with a pen. Here’s how, along with how to upgrade your forms to add signatures and more.
How to Create Documents From Google Forms for Signatures
Surveys and signup forms don’t typically need signatures. You might need contact info, sure, but you don’t need anything else to confirm what your respondents wanted. Google Forms is fine for those simpler forms.
If you need more detailed agreements, such as an NDA or information release form, to make an eSign compliant agreement, you’ll need your respondent’s signature to confirm their consent. Google Docs doesn’t include a signature field, so the only way to get a digital signature on your form is to first turn the form data into a template document, and then send that document back to your respondent for their signature.
One way to do that would be using Zapier, an automation platform that can create template docs from Google Forms and Google Docs automatically. First, create your Google Form, and include the name, address, and other fields that you need in the document.
Then, open Google Docs and create a new document with the agreement information. Add fields with double curly brackets like {{this}} for each bit of info you want to copy from the Google Form into your documents. And at the end of the document, be sure to add a blank line for signatures.
Now, open Zapier, and build a new workflow that watches for new Google Forms form entries. Add a Google Docs Create Document from Template action, and select the doc you just built. Zapier will show each of the {{fields}} that you added in your Google Doc; match them up with the correct data from your Google Form.
Moments later, you’ll have a new Google Doc with your respondent’s name, address, and other details ready for a digital signature. You could add another step to email them a PDF—and once they respond back with the signed PDF, your journey to get a signed Google Form response will be over. Or if you have access to the Google Docs beta eSignature feature, you could request signatures manually from Google Docs.
How to Upgrade Your Google Forms to Add Signatures
Or, there’s another option: You could upgrade to Fillout, a form app that includes signatures, to capture names, contact details, and the actual eSign-compliant signature right in the same form. It’s free for unlimited forms and up to 1,000 responses per month, perfect as the next step to level-up your forms from Google Forms’ more basic features.
Here’s how it works. In Fillout, build out your form as normal—or just type the details you need in your form into Fillout’s built-in form AI to automatically build your form in seconds.
Then, at the end of your form, drag in the Signature field, and set it as required.
That’s it. Now, whenever anyone fills out your form, then can draw their signature on the screen and submit the filled out and signed form—no PDF required. You can then set up an Airtable automation to turn your signed forms into print-ready signed documents, or use a similar Zap as the one we set up with Google Docs to save your form data to a Google Sheets spreadsheet then turn it into PDF documents. Check our full guide to creating signed documents from a form for more details.
Upgrade Your Google Forms to Add Signatures With Fillout
Already have forms you’ve built out in Google Forms, and want to add signature fields to them without rebuilding your forms? You’re in luck.
Fillout includes a Google Forms importer to turn your Google Form into a Fillout form in seconds. Connect your Google account, select your form, choose a theme, and Fillout will bring over everything: Form fields, descriptions, and headers. You can then add a signature field, along with any other Fillout-specific fields to collect location coordinates, upload PDFs, or add captchas and passwords for security.
Then share your new Fillout form link to collect data and signatures at the same time.
Upgrade your Google Forms today to start to give your forms superpowers—with 1,000 entries per month for free.
Written by
Matthew Guay is a writer and co-founder of Pith and Pip. He previously was founding editor of Capiche and Zapier’s senior writer and editor.
