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Participant
March 28, 2025
Question

Adobe Sign - Form Tab Order Does not Work Properly

  • March 28, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 885 views

I created a form in Adobe Acrobat Pro and set up the tab orders.  I have verified it several times that the tab ordering is sequential.

 

Howeever, when I use this form to send it via Adobe Sign, the tab order does not work as set up.  It skips certain fields and I am not able to figure out why.  NOTE: The tab order is not random - it follows the same order every time but not what I want. 

 

Any help in getting this resolved would be much appreciated.

4 replies

Participant
July 31, 2025

I am having the same problem. I selected Acrobat Sign form when creating the form. The tab order is correct and functions properly in Adobe Acrobat, but when I add to Sign, the tabs are all out of order. This is frustrating.

Rahul5F95Author
Participant
July 31, 2025

I have since moved to HelloSign/called Dropbox Sign now and it is so much better.  I recommend everyone to ditch Adobe and move to better solutions. 

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
July 31, 2025

Hi STEPHANIE221730710chg,

 

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry about the trouble.

 

Please confirm what you mean by the tab order being out of order when uploading the form in Acrobat Sign. Could you please share the screen recording? It will help us check the behavior and share the correct information. 

Would like to inform you that the tab moves from left to right in the Acrobat Sign document. This is a designer behavior.  

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

Participant
May 1, 2025

I'm having the same frustrating issue which is making it impossible for us to publish new forms to be signed. We created our forms meticulously in Acrobat pro, and manually assigned the tab order for fields. However, when attempting to use the PDF as the basis for a new template, whatever processing takes place changes the tab ordering in completely unexpected ways. The fact that tab order can't be somehow adjusted in the web interface of Adobe Sign is ludicrous enough - but that it doesn't even work properly when done from Acrobat leaves us completely dead in the water.

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
May 16, 2025

Hi rmanjoneylc, and Rahul5F95,

 

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry about the delay in getting back.

 

@Rahul5F95, we tried the link you shared. However, it is asking for access permission. Would you mind sharing files again with public access?

 

Please ensure that when you create the PDF form in Acrobat, you select the Acrobat Sign form. You can either make the box for "This document requires signature" in the Prepare form tool.

 

 

Or click on the three dots next to Prepare a form in the left-hand tool pane and select "Prepare form for e-signing". 

 

 

 

 

Let us know how it goes. 

 

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

 

 

Participant
May 18, 2025

I am having the same problem.  The tab order in Acrobat Pro is correct.  The signer fields are set correctly but the tab order is all over the place when putting through for signing.  I have started from scratch and it still does it.  Did the problem ever get resolved here?

Participant
April 11, 2025

Im having the same issue were you able to get it fixed?

Rahul5F95Author
Participant
April 12, 2025

Nothing yet!!! I sent my form to Adobe tech but have not heard back from her.  This is so frustrating. 

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
March 31, 2025

Hi Rahul5F95,

 

Thank you for reaching out.

 

Please let us know if you have selected the Acrobat Sign form when creating the PDF form in Acrobat. You may refer to the following help document for more information on creating a PDF form: https://adobe.ly/4iJwZoo

Could you please share the PDF form that you have created? Also, let us know if you have assigned all the form fields to the respective recipient. We will try to replicate the behavior and share the information with you. 

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

Rahul5F95Author
Participant
April 1, 2025

Hi Meenakshi -

 

The form was originally created in Acrobat Pro.  I combined several Word documents into one PDF file.  Then I converted that pdf into a form and set up the tab order.  The tab order looks and works accurately in Acrobat.   However, once I use this form in Adobe Sign to send for signatures, the tab order gets messed up. 

 

Any help you can provide would be much appreciated. 

 

I do not want to post the form/document here as it has some proprietary information.  If there is a way for me to send to you directly for review, I am happy to do it.  Please advise.

 

 

 

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
April 4, 2025

Hi Rahul5F95 ,

 

Sure! You can share the document via private message. To send a private message, use the envelope icon at the top right corner of this community page. Let us know once you share the document.

If you can share the screen recording of how it appears in Acrobat and what changes in Acrobat Sign, it would help us to replicate the behavior. 

 

Thanks,

Meenakshi