Fill a PDF form from Google Sheets™ rows

With PacketFill: Fill PDF Forms for Google Sheets™, map live Sheet columns to existing PDF fields, review the completed pages and download one PDF per row in one ZIP. Source cells and the original PDF stay unchanged.

It handles ordinary named AcroForm fields. It does not turn a scan or a flat page into a fillable form, or support XFA. Ask the form owner for a standard AcroForm version, or consider the free overlay alternative below.

1. Prepare the form and your rows

To try the original demonstration form, download the starter ZIP. It contains a blank workshop-registration PDF, three fictional CSV records and import/mapping instructions. Follow its one-record-first steps to preserve leading zeros and use one free output.

Keep your original template. Use a heading row and one record per row, with unique filename IDs such as row-0001 and row-0002. Blank or duplicate output IDs must be fixed.

PacketFill reads displayed text, so format identifiers and dates before loading. An ID shown as 00042 is preserved; if Sheets already displays 42, PacketFill cannot infer the lost zeros.

2. Load exactly the records you want

Open PacketFill from Extensions > PacketFill > Open PacketFill and check the Google account shown in the sidebar. That account is used for the source, allowance and billing.

1. Under Standard AcroForm PDF, choose your local template. Its named fields are discovered without uploading the PDF to a separate processing service.
2. Under Source, use Selected cells for your records and required columns, including headings if First row contains column headings is ticked. Alternatively choose Current tab’s used range; check for old rows you did not intend to include.
3. Click Load displayed rows and check the row count and range. Every loaded data row is a record; PacketFill does not silently discard blank or duplicate records for you.

For a smaller batch, select fewer rows and load them again.

3. Map fields and decide what happens to defaults

Use Find a field, expand its details and choose the source column. Check Existing value and Exact option/export values. Printed labels can differ from underlying field names.

Choose Unmapped editable fields explicitly:

• Clear existing values removes editable defaults in fields you leave unmapped.
• Keep existing values retains them. This can retain sample names or choices already in the template, so inspect them carefully.

This choice affects unmapped editable fields. A mapped blank is a blank/cleared value, even with Keep selected. Read-only fields retain their original values. Blank signature fields are not signed; the final static PDF has no interactive signature widgets or action buttons.

Select your Filename ID column; simple distinct letters/digits/hyphens/underscores avoid filename problems. Choose Text size in points from 6 to 18, with no automatic shrinking.

4. Check every record and download the ZIP

Click Check all rows and preview. Invalid choices, unsupported characters and values that do not fit produce errors before output. Correct the source or choose a smaller supported font size and preview again; a smaller size may still not fit.

Use Record and output filename, PDF page and Preview zoom to inspect the actual filled pages, including later pages and long names. When the batch is right, tick I checked the selected rows, filenames and preview, then click Generate ZIP download. Use the download link to save the ZIP and extract its PDFs.

Each record becomes one flattened, static PDF, preserving the template’s pages. Fields are no longer editable. PacketFill does not sign, submit, email or calculate forms.

Free allowance and supported bounds

Preview is free. Three generated PDFs in total per Google account are free, then generation within the supported limits costs $9 once, with no subscription. A 13-page PDF counts as one PDF; three records in one ZIP count as three. If the whole job exceeds your free outputs remaining, select fewer rows or unlock. No silent first-three-only batch is produced. Usage counts when generated output is recorded, rather than when your computer saves the ZIP.

Recognized retries of the unchanged latest job and repeated downloads use no extra allowance. After reopening, reselect the same PDF, source and options; these are not saved for you. A different authorized batch replaces retry history before completion. Forget retry history also removes recognition, keeping total free usage and purchase.

Use a PDF up to 5 MiB, 20 pages and 1,000 terminal fields; a batch of 1 to 50 records, up to 30 columns, 1,530 cells including headings and 1.5 million displayed-text characters. Total generated PDF bytes and the ZIP must each stay within 50 MiB, for free and paid jobs.

Supported fields are text/comb, checkboxes, single dropdowns and radio groups. XFA, flat/scanned, encrypted, signed/certified, script-dependent, rich-text, multiselect and rotated-page/widget forms are unsupported. Font coverage includes Latin and Greek; unsupported glyphs are refused.

When a free alternative is enough

FormWeaver is a capable free, local Excel/CSV-to-PDF overlay tool, including for flat PDFs without named fields. In our comparison on two public forms, three-row CSV batches produced correctly named ZIPs, multipage placement and accented/Greek text. Checkbox values became ordinary text, existing defaults remained, CSV ID 00042 became 42, and an overlong name crossed a field boundary without a fit warning. These results do not establish its XLSX behavior or every form’s compatibility. Adjust placement/font and review output; it may be all you need.

Form Link for Sheets advertises free named-field PDF generation from Sheets, with preview and outputs in Drive; we have not tested it hands-on. Consider it if that workflow suits you. PacketFill offers a reviewed local ZIP from live Sheet rows; free alternatives already cover useful parts of this job.

Google Sheets™ is a trademark of Google LLC.