Fill troubleshooting: encrypted PDFs, missing form fields, and auto-fill limits

Fixes for the most common problems when filling a PDF at Fill.

"This PDF is encrypted"

Cause: the file is password- or permissions-protected, and the fill engine can't write into it. This is common with official forms — most USCIS PDFs (I-130, I-485, I-765, N-400) ship protected.

AttachKit already tried to help: when you drop a protected PDF, Fill first attempts to unlock it on your device (nothing is uploaded). If that works, you'll see "Unlocked this protected PDF on your device — nothing was uploaded" and can fill normally. The encrypted banner only appears when the file has a real open password that can't be removed automatically; while it shows, Auto-fill from profile and Apply and download stay disabled on purpose.

Fix:

1. If you know the password, remove it with Unlock first, then drop the unlocked copy back into Fill.
2. Otherwise, open the file in an app that can open it (Preview, Acrobat), re-export or print-to-PDF without a password, then re-drop it.

It unlocked, but mentions an "XFA form"

Some government forms use XFA, a legacy dynamic format. Your entries fill in fine, but if the form carries a 2D barcode, open the downloaded result in Adobe Acrobat to regenerate the barcode before official submission. Fill tells you this right after unlocking such a file.

"No form fields — click the PDF to drop text or date boxes"

Cause: the PDF has no AcroForm fields. Scanned, printed, and Word-exported "forms" are just page images or plain text.

Fix:

1. Use free-form mode: pick Text or Date, click anywhere on the page to drop a box, type, and drag it into place.
2. Or click Build fields to draw real fillable rectangles and save them into the PDF — the new fields then appear in the field panel.
3. Note that Auto-fill from profile and Bulk fill from CSV only work on detected fields, so they stay disabled until the PDF has some (built ones count).

Auto-fill filled nothing

• "Your profile is empty, so there's nothing to auto-fill yet" — auto-fill maps your saved details onto the form; it doesn't invent data. Save your name, address, and other details once in your profile, then try again.
• "Auto-fill couldn't match any fields to your saved profile yet" — the AI found no confident matches for this form. Add more details to your profile, or fill the form manually.
• Fields that belong to another person (spouse, beneficiary, employer, preparer, witness) are deliberately not auto-filled with your own identity by the on-device matcher — a plausible-but-wrong fill there is worse than an empty box. Review those by hand.

"Monthly AI limit reached"

Cause: AI auto-fill actions are metered per month — 25 on Free, 200 on Pro, 500 on Max. This cap applies even during the private beta: AI actions are the one metered thing the free beta doesn't unlock.

Fix:

1. Nothing is lost: the fields matched on-device from your profile are already applied. Finish the rest by hand — manual filling is free and unlimited.
2. Upgrade for a higher allowance, or wait for the monthly reset.
3. Tip: on-device profile matches don't consume AI quota at all, so the fuller your profile, the fewer AI actions each form needs.

"Rate limit hit" or "Timed out"

• "Rate limit hit. Try again in Xs." — too many AI requests in a short window. Wait the shown number of seconds and click Auto-fill from profile again.
• "Timed out — check your connection and try again." — the AI request took longer than 2 minutes, usually a flaky connection. Your typed values are untouched; just retry.

"Draft couldn't be decrypted (key may have been reset) — it's been removed"

Cause: drafts are encrypted and stored only in the browser where you saved them. If that browser's site data was cleared (or a privacy mode wiped the encryption key), the draft can no longer be opened, so AttachKit removes the dead record.

Fix: re-drop the original PDF and fill it again. Save drafts in the browser and device you'll actually come back to — drafts never sync across devices, and that's by design: they never touch a server.

"You've saved all 3 free templates"

Cause: the free tier caps saved templates at 3; Pro is unlimited (during the private beta, everything is free).

Fix: delete a template you no longer need under Manage templates, or upgrade.

The downloaded PDF looks wrong in another app

1. Some viewers render form-field values inconsistently. Re-download with Flatten (lock fields) checked — your values get baked into the page itself, so the file prints and renders the same everywhere. Flattening removes the editable fields and can't be undone, so keep an unflattened copy if you might edit again.
2. The font you pick (Sans/Serif/Mono) is embedded in the output. If the text style surprises you, re-check the font picker and download again.
3. In Bulk fill from CSV, checkboxes only tick for the cell values true, yes, y, 1, x, checked, or on (case-insensitive) — anything else leaves the box unchecked.

Still stuck?

Contact support and mention which form you were filling. Your PDF never leaves your browser, so we can't see it — a screenshot of the error message helps.