How to Sign an NDA Online

Before you sign anything

Whichever side you’re on, read the whole agreement first. Most NDAs are short, and a few minutes is enough to check what matters most. Should you sign an NDA goes through it in more detail.

• The names. If you’re signing for a company, the company should be the party, with you signing on its behalf.
• The type. Is it mutual or one-way? In a one-way NDA, check that the right party is the discloser.
• The purpose, the confidentiality period and the state whose law governs.
• Anything beyond confidentiality, such as a non-compete, a non-solicitation clause or a fixed payment for a breach.

If someone sent you an NDA

How you sign depends on how it arrived:

• Through an e-signature service: open the link in the email, read the document and follow the prompts to sign. You often don’t need an account. With FastNDA, signing is free for you, and both of you get the countersigned PDF by email.
• As a PDF attachment: many PDF readers, including free ones, let you add a typed or drawn signature. Sign, save the file, email it back and keep a copy. If the sender hasn’t signed yet, ask for the countersigned copy once they have.
• As a Word document: if you want changes, propose them openly, with tracked changes or a note, rather than signing a quietly edited version. Then sign the final text, ideally as a PDF.
• On paper: still valid, just slower. Sign, scan or photograph every page and send it back.

If you’re sending your own NDA

You need three things: an agreement, a way for both parties to sign it, and a copy of the signed version for each side. You can put those together yourself with a template, a PDF reader and email, or use a service that handles all three. With FastNDA it takes about three minutes:

• Create the NDA: choose mutual or one-way, write the purpose, pick a confidentiality period of 1, 2, 3 or 5 years and the state whose law governs, and enter both parties’ names and emails. The agreement updates beside the form as you type.
• Read the whole agreement, type your name to sign and confirm that you agree to sign electronically.
• Pay $29. We email the other party a private signing link, and you get a link of your own to track it, send a reminder or cancel.
• They read it and sign from their inbox, with no account. You both get the countersigned PDF with a certificate of completion.

Can you sign an NDA for free?

Yes, in two ways. If someone sends you an NDA through FastNDA, signing it costs you nothing; the sender pays. And if you’d rather do it all yourself, the mutual and one-way templates are free to download as blank PDFs: fill in the brackets, both sign on paper or with a PDF signature tool, and swap copies.

What the do-it-yourself route lacks is the record. Emailing PDFs back and forth works, but you have to keep track of versions yourself, and nothing ties both signatures to the same text. FastNDA’s $29 covers both signatures, a fingerprint showing both of you signed the same words, the audit trail and delivery of the signed PDF to both parties.

Is an online signature legally binding?

Generally, yes. The federal ESIGN Act and state e-signature laws give electronic signatures the same legal effect as handwritten ones for ordinary business contracts like NDAs. A typed name counts when you adopt it with the intent to sign.

In a dispute, what matters is evidence: who signed, that they meant to, and exactly what they signed. The details are in are electronically signed NDAs legally binding. You don’t need a notary either; see do NDAs need to be notarized.

After you sign

Save the countersigned PDF where you’ll find it again, and note when the confidentiality period ends. If you’re receiving information, share it only with people who need it for the purpose and are bound by confidentiality, and return or destroy it if asked. On FastNDA there’s no account to log into: you can get your links again at any time from Find my NDAs.