How to Remove the Adobe Sign Audit Report from Signed PDFs
Question details
The user wants to prevent Adobe Sign from attaching an extra page containing the signing history or audit report to completed documents.
- Product
- Adobe Sign
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Sending or downloading signed PDF files where only the signed document is needed, without the transaction history page.
- Observed behavior
- A signed PDF returned through Adobe Fill & Sign includes an unwanted additional page containing the document audit report.
Ensure you have the necessary account permissions in Adobe Acrobat Sign to modify global settings, as enterprise accounts may have this feature locked by an administrator.
Disable the Audit Report Attachment in Global Settings
Change your Adobe Sign account settings to prevent the audit report from automatically appending to signed documents.
By default, Adobe Sign may attach an audit report to provide a clear transaction history. You can turn this off in your account settings if you only want to deliver the finalized document.
Log in to your Adobe Acrobat Sign account through your web browser.
Click on 'Account' in the top menu, then select 'Account Settings', and choose 'Global Settings' from the left-hand sidebar.
Scroll through the settings menu until you find the option labeled 'Attach audit report to documents'.
Uncheck or disable this setting as permitted by your account tier, and save your changes.
Download the Signed Document Separately
If you cannot change the global settings, manually download just the signed document directly from the Adobe Sign management dashboard.
Delete Unwanted Pages from Any PDF Using WPS Office
If you already have a downloaded PDF with an extra audit report page and it is not locked by strict cryptographic seals, you can quickly remove the unwanted page using the WPS Office PDF editor.
- 1. Open your PDF: Launch WPS Office and open the signed PDF document that contains the extra audit report page.
- 2. Navigate to the Page tab: Click on the 'Page' tab located in the top navigation ribbon to view all pages as thumbnails.
- 3. Select the Audit Report page: Locate the last page containing the audit report and click to select it.
- 4. Delete and Save: Click the 'Delete Pages' button, confirm your choice, and then save the updated PDF document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Adobe Sign attach an audit report to my signed PDFs?
The audit report is a compliance feature that tracks the signing history, IP addresses, and timestamps to provide legal evidence of the transaction. It is enabled by default in many Adobe Sign accounts.
Can I manually delete the audit report page using a standard PDF reader?
Standard free PDF readers usually do not allow page deletion. You need a dedicated PDF editor, such as WPS Office or Adobe Acrobat Pro, to delete pages. Note that modifying a digitally certified document might invalidate the signature seal.
What if the 'Attach audit report' setting is grayed out in Adobe Sign?
If the setting is grayed out or unavailable, your organization's Adobe Sign administrator has likely locked this compliance setting globally. You will need to contact your IT admin to request a change or download the file separately via the 'Manage' tab.
Will removing the audit report invalidate the digital signature?
If the signature is accompanied by a cryptographic document certification seal, manually deleting a page using a PDF editor will likely break the seal and show the signature as invalid. It is always best to prevent the report from attaching via Adobe Sign settings before the document is finalized.
