This post was updated on 06/17/2024 as some more preview features are still making their way to our tenants

Original post:

We need to talk about the disaster that is signing documents at work. You know the drill—download a PDF, sign it (maybe), attach it to an email, send it back, then hope someone saves the final version in the right place. Multiply that by 50 employees and 6 departments and congrats, you now have a compliance nightmare.

But good news: SharePoint is finally getting serious about eSignature integration. And not just in a “here’s a button to open Adobe Sign” kind of way. We’re talking real, native integration—Adobe, DocuSign, and more—directly inside the SharePoint experience.

This is all part of Microsoft Syntex’s eSignature capability, which lets you request and track signatures right from your SharePoint libraries. It also plays nice with Microsoft Purview, content types, and the broader compliance story. For the full overview, check out the official documentation here: eSignature in Microsoft Syntex – Overview

And if that wasn’t easy enough, you can even kick off eSignature requests directly from Word Online. No jumping between tools. No saving things locally. Just write, review, and request the signature all in one flow. This is especially useful when you’re collaborating in real-time and want to turn that draft into a signed document without losing momentum.
Learn more: How to create and send an eSignature request from Word

Don’t see the option in your Word ribbon yet? You might need to flip the right switch in the admin center. Microsoft gives you full control over enabling signature requests in Word across your organization. Here’s the setup guide: How to allow signature requests in Microsoft Word

No more download-sign-upload-repeat

Now you can initiate signature requests right from the document library, track the status inline, and even see the signed copy stored automatically in the same location. It’s cleaner, faster, and way more secure than the duct-taped workflows we’ve all been living with.

Example use cases:

• HR teams collecting signed offer letters without printing or chasing down approvals
• Procurement sending out vendor contracts for e-signature—straight from a contract library
• IT managing policy acknowledgments during onboarding
• Legal tracking status of signed NDAs without the dreaded “Did you get this signed yet?” emails

Bonus: governance and compliance don’t get left behind

These aren’t just vanity features. The signed files are stored in-place, with full audit trails. You can apply sensitivity labels, retention policies, and everything else your compliance team dreams about at night. So yes—this unsucks your signing process without introducing chaos on the backend.

What this means for modern work

Workflows like these are the quiet revolution. They don’t make headlines, but they remove friction in exactly the right places. And when you add that up across dozens of daily tasks, you start to feel it—work gets better. Less manual tracking. Less email ping-pong. More focus on the real stuff.

I’ve been pushing for this kind of functionality for years. Seeing it now, baked into Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, feels like a massive win for everyone who’s been duct-taping their digital processes together.

If you’re still making users print, sign, scan, and re-upload—this is your sign. Unsuck your document signing today.