Signing documents is a common and important practice. Learn how to insert a signature in Word and how to do it in a PDF document.
Microsoft Word is a very popular word processor and one of the most commonly used applications on PCs and Macs. Many people use it to create documents that will ultimately need to be signed such as letters and contracts. However, inserting a signature in Word is not an obvious process. Word doesn’t have a native electronic signing feature.
Nonetheless, there are several options for signing a Word document. These include inserting an image of your signature, printing the document and signing is and turning it into a PDF and signing that. With Microsoft Word and PDFSimpli, you can easily create and sign documents.
1. How To Insert a Signature in Word
The most popular method of inserting a signature directly into Word is to create an image of your signature. You can do this by signing a piece of paper and then scanning it. If you have a touchscreen, drawing tablet or are just good with a mouse, you can also draw a signature in your favorite image editing software. Once you have your signature image, follow these steps to insert it:
- Open your document in Word.
- Find the spot where you want the signature and insert the image. These are a couple of ways to do that:
- Drag and drop the file from Windows Explorer on PC or Finder on Mac.
- Click “Insert” then select “Pictures” and “Picture from File.” Then, select the image you want to insert.
- As necessary, resize and move the inserted image.
Word documents are editable. Therefore, if you are sending it digitally, you may want to convert it into a PDF first. You can do this quickly, easily and for free by going to PDFSimpli and choosing the “Convert Word to PDF” option.
2. How To Do IT With a Line In Word
As an alternative option, you can insert a signature line into the Word document then print, sign and scan it. This is a more analog way of signing your Word document. The final document will be a scanned image or PDF.
To insert the signature line, open the document in Word. Then, click “Insert” and choose “Signature Line” then “Microsoft Office Signature Line”. There will be a pop-up asking for the signer’s name and title. These will appear beneath the signature line. Print out the document and it is ready to be signed.
3. How To Insert a Signature Into a Word Document as a PDF
Another option is to convert the Word document to a PDF and then sign it. This option has several advantages. First, it is directly signing the document electronically instead of scanning a signature or a signed document. Second, the PDF cannot be accidentally changed by the recipient. It is the preferred format for sharing signed documents. These are the steps for doing this:
- Open PDFSimpli and choose the “Convert Word to PDF” option.
- Select your Word document that needs to be signed.
- In the editor window, click “Signature” then either “Add New” or select one that you’ve already created.
- If you are making a new signature, either draw it with a mouse, type a signature or upload a signature image.
- When ready, click “Convert.”
- Download the new, signed PDF document.
If you want to send a Word document for signing, you can use a similar process. Convert your Word document to a PDF using steps one and two then skip to step five. Send the new, unsigned PDF to the recipient and have him or her open PDFSimpli in a browser. He or she can then choose the “Sign PDF” option and sign the document using steps three and four above.
4. How To Insert a Signature in Word on Mac
All of the above techniques for signing a Word document will work on PC, Mac, iOS and Android. If you use the PDFSimpli method, you can sign your converted PDF on any device with a browser. You can also save your work online and come back to it later, even on another device. With PDFSimpli, signing and sharing your documents has never been easier. Best of all it is free!
