Change default date setting in e-signature form

[breathandtaxesllc]

I'm sending a lot of forms for my clients to e-sign and Acrobat keeps defaulting to DD/MM/YYYY instead of MM/DD/YYYY. I thought that changing one input field would change the inputs for all the date forms but it didn't! I have to manually change the date settings for every date field.

Is there a way to set the default? I can't find it in app or online. 

[ls_rbls]

Hi @breathandtaxesllc ,

Can you confirm or verify if the users that are receiving your PDFs are also using Adobe Acrobat or are they opening and viewing your PDFs on web browsers?

[breathandtaxesllc]

They're likely signing from a web browser.


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[breathandtaxesllc]

To add onto this user flaw, when I set the date settings and then change it to "Date of Signing" it resets the date formatting! So as a user I need to first remember to set the type of field and then set the customized date. Really annoying user workflow here. 

[ls_rbls]

Seems like you're sharing the PDF via Adobe Sign. If Adobe Sign is involved in this workflow I am  not sure why is that happening.

I normally prefer to customize my PDFs the way I want field objects to behave. And then I  share my PDFs at work as an email attachment instead of Adobe Sign.

Would mind elaborating in a little more detail what type of workflow are you employing? Or. maybe sharing a dummy copy of that PDF with no sensitive data on it?

I also forgot to ask if this is happening with just one particular PDF and only with that user, or is it happening with every PDF that you share with any users?

[breathandtaxesllc]

I'm sending the forms via Acrobat. All of my agreements show up in my Acrobat desktop app. 

There are specific pages my clients must sign for me to do work. I populate the e-signature field and Date of Signing field. Acrobat automatically creates clickable fields that it thinks are part of the form (helpful), but the default selection for those fields are what's annoying. For example, it can recognize a place to sign but it defaults to a text field instead of an e-signature field. For the date fields, it defaults to Date with DD/MM/YYYY. I recognize that this is the standard in most countries, but it is not in the US. For every date field on my forms, I have to 1) select Date of Signing then 2) customize the date field. That's an additional 6-10 clicks per client. It adds up when you're processing 100+ forms. 

[breathandtaxesllc · Accepted solution]

The issue seems to have resolved itself! After enough times of setting the date to MM/DD/YYYY, Acrobat has saved the settings for both Date and Date of Signing fields. It seems like you have to do it with a dozen or so clients before it catches on.

Feedback to the team would be to allow users to set the date default from the get go!

[ls_rbls]

Thank you for the update!

[Una379090443wtu]

I have been using Adobe sign for the last few months and it has not defaulted. I am also part of a large organisation with branches in different countries. Each region will follow the local default date and time. 

If there is a setting for "enterprise level" to set default, then it is guaranteed that most employees will be stuck with the wrong format default. Also I am not an admin, so I can't make the decision on what default for the staff will be.

All we are asking for is a button that allows for "Save setting as default". It is not a new or revolutionary concept, so I do not understand why the decision was made to exclude it.

If I can't get this option, can I ask why the decision was made to deny this option to users? 

I can see lots of posts on similar questions, where we are told "it is not an option", I just want to know why.  A lot of fundamental functions and options that users have come to expect as standard from this kind of application are missing or poorly designed in the latest revisions of Adobe, I feel like I am using app designed on Windows 7 for a student programming project. 

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Una379090443wtu,

Thank you for reaching out.

We checked that you are using the Acrobat Sign Enterprise plan. Please refer to the information in the following help document: https://adobe.ly/4maigo6. 

If you are not the Admin, please check with the Admin for the account in your organization to change these settings.

Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Una379090443wtu]

As I said already, I am not an administrator.

I usually prepare documents for people in other regions, that use a different date format. So I have to set my default to a different format to the group.  

I do not know who the admin is, and even if I do find them, I think it is very unlikely they will set up a special group, just for me. I am in a large multinational organisation, creating once off groups is not good practices when trying to keep management simple. 

Is there a way for me to save my unique settings? 

If there is no way for me to save my settings, can I ask why the decision was made to deny this option to users? It is terrible idea and counter productive. 
Or could you tell me who to contact in relation to getting this fixed? 

[mariahweyne]

Go to your personal preferences in the Adobe Sign main page.  Clic on My profile. This is where you can change your personal time zone.  But, be advised if the organization sets another time zone as default, that's the one that's going to rule.

[Una379090443wtu]

My question was not about time zones. I am not sure why you suggested this action.  

I just want to be able to change default format for dates and save that setting as my default.  ie. HH-MM-DD-MM-YY or MM/DD/YY or DD/MMM/YYYY.  

 It is annoying if you are preparing a lot of documents to have to change for every document. It is a lot of extra clicks and manual input increases the risk of error. 

To repeat again. 

Is there a way for me to save my date settings? 

If there is no way for me to save my date format settings, can I ask why the decision was made to deny this option to users? 

[ls_rbls · Accepted solution]

@Una379090443wtu ,

If you are using Adobe Sign at work, see the guidance posted earlier by @Meenakshi Negi 

There are various ways to create reusable PDF agreement templates to  keep a desired format with the PDF objects that your users will interact with.

If you are using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC with an individual subscription plan, the version of Adobe Sign that is shipped by default with that plan is limited in some features.

If that would be your case, you may need to upgrade to a Teams or Business version, I'm afraid.

Otherwise, the Admin of the Adobe Sign team in your organization must assign an Admin role for you, that allows to modify or customize your re-usable Adobe Sign  templates.

[Una379090443wtu]

I still do not have a resolution.

I work for a very large organisation, with departments that have different needs depending on the staff member, for example a few team members are based on one geographical location but they frequently send documents to regions that use a different date format so a few isolated team members need to be different. Requesting an administrator is not an easy task and for ease of management, they set the default for a group because it is too labour intensive to personalise thousands of accounts. 

Requeting to be made an administrator is a very unreasonable instruction. Usually that is a role reserved for staff members in IT or of a certain level of seniority. Applying admin status to half a department is not best business practices. 

This seems to be a major oversight for Adobe designers and I would like to know why the decision was made to lock the system as a design feature?  Nobody has answered this question.

Depending on the business need, I could spend a week needing the default set to the American format and the next week I could need the European format. Being able to set at the start of the week the default, and not have to contact an Administrator every time is what I want.  

[mariahweyne]

Misunderstood your needs. 

[raymondf53740700]

I didn't notice this thread previously and posted the following a few moments ago a new discussion:

I use Adobe Acrobat Sign to get electronic signatures on documents.  People are always confused by the date section, which lists the date as DAY/MO/YEAR, so that August 10, 2025 (for example) is listed as 10/8/25 rather than the US standard 8/10/25.  As a result, I consistently get calls from signers saying that the date is showing up 'wrong'.  I finally decided to contact Adobe customer support and was told that I need an 'enterprise level subscription' in order to show the signing date in the proper US format.  I know the United States is one of a minority of countries (along with Canada, Greenland, the Philippines, Kenya and a few others) that use the MO/DAY/YEAR format, but shouldn't there be a simple setting or adjustment for this in Adobe Acrobat?  Instead, Adobe is forcing everyone who uses the US format to pay through the nose  in order to enable 'Global sign setting 3' that will show the date as MO/DAY/YEAR.  The cost to do this is excessive: enterprise pricing is $4.99 for EACH signature on EACH document; a single document with four signatures is equal to the cost of what I pay for an entire Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription for a month!).  So, this is what is required to get a date in a format used by approximately 400 million people in the world?  It is not my intent to come accross as a solely 'US-centric' person as that is not how I view the world.  Nor do I post rants or send 'flaming' emails, but I have to say, this is just plain ridiculous.  I'm going to look for an alternative to Adobe Acrobat.