Help centre
Stuck on a form? Start here.
Short answers to the questions people ask most, one per page. If yours is not here, write to support@usedocfilla.com and a person replies within one business day.
Getting started
- How do I fill in a PDF form online?Upload the PDF to DocFilla. It detects every field, fills the ones it can from your saved details and shows you the rest. Check the answers, sign, and download the completed PDF.
- Can I try DocFilla without an account?Yes. You can fill one document without signing up. It stays in your browser and is not kept on our servers. Create a free account to save your details and fill as many documents as you like.
- Which file types work?PDF, JPG and PNG up to 25 MB (20 MB in the free trial). Photos of paper forms are wrapped into a PDF automatically.
- Can I fill in a form on my phone?Yes. DocFilla is a website, so it works in the browser on any phone, with nothing to install. Tap a box on the page to answer it, sign with a finger, and download or share the PDF.
Filling in a form
- Can DocFilla fill in scanned or non-fillable PDFs?Yes. Flat PDFs are read from their printed lines and boxes. Scans and photos are read by the vision agent. Fillable PDFs use their own fields.
- How do I add a box that the scan missed?Choose Text box, Checkbox, Signature box or Character boxes from the toolbar and drag on the page where the box should be. Or use Rescan area to have DocFilla look at that part of the page again.
- What are saved details, and what do they fill in?Saved details are the facts about you that forms keep asking for: names, date of birth, nationality, contact details, address, employer, bank details, next of kin and your business's public details. Once saved, they fill the matching questions on every form.
Signing
- Can I sign documents with DocFilla?Yes. Tap any signature box and draw with a mouse, trackpad or finger. The signature is placed in every signature box you choose.
- How do I sign on my phone when I am filling in on a computer?Tap a signature box and choose Sign on your phone. A QR code appears; scan it, draw your signature on the phone, and it lands in the box on the computer.
- Are electronic signatures legally valid in South Africa?Generally, yes. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives an ordinary electronic signature legal effect. Its Schedule 2 excludes sales of immovable property, leases of land over 20 years, wills and bills of exchange, which are signed in ink.
Sending a form to other people
- Can I send a form to someone else to fill in or sign?Yes. Send a document for signing and each person gets a link by email to sign the fields marked for them, at once or in turn. Keep a form as a template and send it for completion: everyone gets their own copy to fill in, and each copy comes back to your Documents.
- What is a template in DocFilla?A template is a form you keep to send again and again. You fill in your part once; every person you send it to gets their own copy with your part locked, completes the rest, and the completed copy comes back to your Documents.
- How do I collect signatures from a group with one link?Make a shared signing link for a document with a signer box per person. Paste it into the group; whoever opens it gives their name, claims the next free box and signs on their phone.
Privacy and security
- Is it safe to upload forms with my ID or passport number?Files and details are encrypted in transit and at rest, and ID numbers, banking details and answers are encrypted again under a server-side key before they reach the database. Only you, and the people you choose to send a document to, can open them.
- Do you use my documents to train AI?No. Your documents and details are used only to fill your own forms. They are never sold, shared or used for training.
- How long do you keep my files?By default a downloaded document is deleted 24 hours later. You can delete it right away, or keep it. Change the default in Settings.
- Where is my data stored?DocFilla is served from Cape Town. The database and file storage are hosted by Supabase in Frankfurt, in the European Union, and forms are read by an AI model from Anthropic in the United States. Everything is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Your account and plans
- Is DocFilla free?Yes. Every feature is free for now, with no monthly limit: fill, sign, send for signing and Ask Doccy.
- How do I delete my documents or my account?Delete a document from Documents, or let it clear itself on the schedule you set. Delete your account from Settings: it removes your documents, saved details, audit trail and login immediately.
About DocFilla
- Is DocFilla the same as DocFila, docFiller or DocuFiller?No. DocFilla, with two l's and an a, is the South African website at usedocfilla.com that fills in, signs and sends PDF forms. DocFila is an all-in-one document app, docFiller is a browser add-on that fills in Google Forms, and DocuFiller and Docufiller are other products altogether.
- Who runs DocFilla, and where is it based?DocFilla is made and run by WiredSouth (PTY) Ltd, a South African company, and served from Cape Town. Support is a person at support@usedocfilla.com who replies within one business day.
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