Download the original, signed and audit PDFs
An envelope carries three downloadable files. Here is what each one is, the moment it becomes available, and which button on the page fetches it.
A completed envelope holds three separate files, and they do not all arrive at once. The upload you started with is there from the beginning, the sealed signed PDF appears when the last signer finishes, and the Certificate of Completion is written moments after that.
Who can do this
Anyone who can open the document can download its files. Visibility follows your role, so a member reaches their own envelopes, a manager also sees their team's, and an admin sees everything in the workspace. No plan gate applies.
The three files
| File | What it contains | Available from |
|---|---|---|
| Original | The document exactly as you uploaded it, before any field was filled | The moment the upload finishes |
| Signed PDF | The sealed copy carrying every signature, tickbox and typed value | When the last signer completes |
| Audit PDF | The Certificate of Completion: who did what, when, and from which IP address | Seconds after the signed PDF |
Download the signed PDF
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Open Documents and click the envelope. A completed one shows a green strip reading Everyone signed at the top of the Summary tab.
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Click Signed PDF. The file opens in a new browser tab, where you save it as normal.
You can skip the detail page entirely. In the Documents list, every completed row carries a Download button that pulls the same sealed file straight to your machine, named after the document. Signers get at their own copy a different way, covered in Download your signed copy.
Download the Certificate of Completion
Audit PDF sits next to Signed PDF on that same strip, and it fetches the Certificate of Completion. For an envelope that ended some other way, a cancelled or declined one, the button moves up into the row of page actions beside Move, because those documents have a record worth keeping but no sealed copy to go with it.
From the list, open the row's action menu and pick Download audit trail. The file lands with -audit on the end of its name so it never overwrites the signed copy sitting next to it in your downloads folder.
Where the original lives
Open the Document tab and the original is what you are looking at, with the field boxes drawn over it in each recipient's color. Sealing does not touch that file. The signed copy is written as a separate file beside it, so nothing about your upload is overwritten.
Reading it back is the part people get wrong. There is no button labeled Original anywhere on the page. While signing is still running the Document tab is the original, so viewing it is all you need; Open original appears in its place only when the browser cannot render the preview. Once the envelope completes, that tab swaps to the sealed version and the only downloads on offer are Signed PDF and Audit PDF. If you expect to need the unsigned file later, keep the copy you uploaded from.
If something goes wrong
- No Signed PDF button. At least one signer has not finished. Check the recipient list on the Summary tab to see who is holding it up.
- Audit PDF is missing on a freshly completed document. Wait a few seconds and reload. The certificate is assembled after the signatures are sealed.
- The link opened, then stopped working. Download links are private and short-lived, around ten minutes. Click the button again for a fresh one.
- Nothing happened when you clicked. The detail page opens files in a new tab, so a popup blocker can swallow it. Allow popups for the site, or use the Download button in the list, which saves directly.
- The signed PDF already contains the certificate. That is your workspace's audit trail delivery setting appending it. An admin can change it under Settings > Policies.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the button for the signed PDF?
On the document page, in the green strip that reads Everyone signed, right under the tab rail. The same file is one click away in the Documents list, where every completed row carries an inline Download button. Nothing appears there until the last signer has finished.
Why does my document have no Audit PDF button?
The certificate is produced right after the final signature lands, so on a busy envelope it can trail the signed PDF by a few seconds. Reload the page. A document still collecting signatures has no certificate at all, because the record is not closed yet.
Can I get back the file I originally uploaded?
Yes. Open the Document tab and the untouched upload is what you see there for as long as signing is still running. If the browser cannot render the preview, an Open original button takes its place and fetches that same file, with no signatures on it.
Do the download links expire?
They do. Each click mints a fresh private link that stops working roughly ten minutes later, which is why pasting one into an email or a chat is a bad idea. Send the person the signed PDF itself, or add them as a CC on the envelope.
Can a signer download their own copy?
Yes, from the confirmation page at the end of signing and from the completion email that follows. Neither needs an account. A recipient who lost both can ask you to forward the sealed file, since the sender always holds a downloadable copy on the document page once every signature is in.
Keep going
Read the audit trail and audit certificate
The Activity tab logs every action on an envelope while it is live. The Certificate of Completion turns that log into a signed record you can hand to a lawyer.
ReadDownload your signed copy
Where to get the completed PDF and the audit certificate after you sign, from the thank-you page, the email, or by reopening your link.
ReadTour of the document page
What the header strip, the three tabs, the signing order list, the PDF viewer and the activity feed each tell you, and how the page changes with the document's state.
ReadSign a document yourself
Upload a file, click I am the only signer, drop your signature onto the page and finalize. No email, no recipients, sealed PDF in seconds.
Read