How to Send a Document via DocuSign: Send a DocuSign Document Step by Step

To send a document via DocuSign, log in and select Start, then Envelopes, then Send an Envelope. Upload your file, add each recipient's name and email address, type an email subject and message, drag signature and date fields onto the document for each recipient, then preview and select Send. On a single signer document the whole sequence takes about two minutes.

That is the flow. The parts worth reading past the flow are the two that cost people time: the signing order, which decides what each party sees and when, and the envelope allowance, which is the number that quietly determines whether your plan is enough for the year.

How do I send a document through DocuSign?

The six steps, in the order DocuSign presents them:

1. Start the envelope. From the home screen select Start, then Envelopes, then Send an Envelope. A DocuSign envelope is the container for everything you are sending, not a single file, which is why several documents can travel inside one.
2. Upload the document. Select Upload and pick the file, or drag and drop it into the field. You can add more than one file to the same envelope, and the recipient works through them as one continuous document.
3. Add recipients. Enter each person's name and email address. Select Add Recipient for each additional signer. Each recipient also has a role, and the difference between Needs to Sign and Receives a Copy matters: a copy recipient gets the finished document but is never asked to do anything.
4. Write the email subject and message. These fields are what the recipient sees in their inbox. A subject line that names the document and your company gets opened faster than the default, which is generic enough to look like a phishing attempt to a cautious signer.
5. Place the fields. From the Standard Fields panel, drag Signature, Initial, Date Signed, or Text onto the exact spot on the page. Before you drag anything, check which recipient is selected in the dropdown, because every field belongs to whoever is active when you drop it.
6. Preview and send. Select Preview to see the document as the recipient will, then Send.

Step five is where nearly every avoidable mistake happens. Fields assigned to the wrong recipient produce a document where the second signer is asked to sign on the first signer's line, and the fix is to correct the envelope after the fact, which the recipient sees.

How do I send a document on DocuSign to more than one person?

Add each signer as a separate recipient, then decide whether they sign at the same time or in a set order. By default recipients receive the envelope simultaneously. Turning on Set signing order lets you number the recipients so each one is only notified after the person before them has finished.

Sequential order is what you want whenever a document needs a countersignature. On an offer letter the hiring manager signs first, so the candidate opens something already executed. On a vendor agreement it is usually the reverse: the vendor signs and your side closes it. Parallel routing is faster and is the right default for two parties signing an NDA, where neither is waiting on the other.

Can I send multiple documents for signature in DocuSign?

Yes, in two different ways that are easy to confuse. You can attach several files to a single envelope, so one recipient signs a whole package through one link. You can also send the same document to many different recipients at once, which DocuSign calls a bulk send and which works differently.

DocuSign's bulk send is worth knowing the constraints on before you plan around it. It is available on Business Pro, not on Standard and not on Personal. It also has to be switched on by an administrator under Admin, then Sending Settings, where bulk recipients are enabled, and the sending user needs the allow sending to bulk list permission in their profile. DocuSign's built in permission profiles cannot be edited, so an administrator has to copy one and customize the copy. That chain is the usual answer to why the bulk send option is not showing up.

The cost consequence catches teams out. In a bulk send, each recipient consumes one envelope. A bulk send to 100 people burns an entire user's annual allowance on Standard in one afternoon.

How many documents can you send with each DocuSign plan?

The send limit, not the monthly price, is what usually decides whether a plan works. Prices are per user per month on annual billing.

Envelope allowances confirmed with DocuSign on August 3, 2026. Dollar figures last verified July 16, 2026, and a stale schedule of $10, $25, and $40 is still circulating in third party articles, so check the current page before budgeting.

Read the Standard row carefully. One hundred envelopes per user per year is roughly eight documents a month. A recruiter sending offer letters and a property manager sending renewals both pass that inside a quarter, and the answer at that point is another seat, because the allowance is attached to the user. That arithmetic is why we wrote up why DocuSign gets expensive at exactly the point most teams start relying on it.

How do I correct or void a document after I send it?

You can correct an envelope only while it has an In Process status. Select Manage, open the envelope, and choose Correct. From there you can add, move, or delete fields, and fix a recipient's email address. Selecting Correct reissues the document to the outstanding recipients whose turn it is to sign.

You cannot correct an envelope that is Completed or Voided. If the document has already been fully signed, the signed version is a finished record, and the route is to void it and send a corrected one. To void, select Manage Envelope, then Void Envelope, and enter a reason, which the recipients see. A voided envelope cannot be reactivated, and there is no undo.

Two practical consequences. Send the final version rather than a near final one, because every reissue consumes another envelope from your allowance. And fix a typo in a recipient's email address with Correct rather than by starting a new envelope, which would consume a second one for the same document.

How do I remind someone to sign a DocuSign document?

Automatic reminders are off by default. Turn them on under Advanced Options when you create the envelope, and set how often reminders go out under the frequency dropdown. If you did not enable them before sending, you can open the envelope in Manage and resend it manually.

Check the envelope status before you chase. An envelope showing Sent but never opened is usually a deliverability problem: it landed in spam, or the address has a typo, and the fix is Correct with the right address rather than a firmer email. An envelope showing Delivered has been opened, which means the signer has seen it and set it aside, and a phone call resolves that faster than a fourth reminder. Getting a contract signed is a follow up problem more than a software one, and the same discipline that gets an invoice paid works here, which is why teams that qualify the client properly before the paperwork goes out tend to have fewer envelopes sitting unopened in the first place.

How do I send a document in DocuSign from my phone?

The DocuSign mobile app supports the full send flow: upload from your device or a connected cloud drive, add recipients, place fields, and send. Field placement on a small screen is fiddly on a dense multi page contract, so a common pattern is to build reusable templates on a desktop and send from those on mobile, where the fields are already positioned.

Signing on mobile is the more common case anyway. Most recipients open the link on a phone, which is worth remembering when you design the document: a signature block crammed into a narrow margin is harder to hit on a touchscreen than one with room around it.

Is DocuSign free to send documents for signature?

No, not for ongoing use. DocuSign offers a 30 day free trial, and signing a document somebody else sent you is always free because the sender pays. But sending your own documents requires a paid plan once the trial ends, starting at $11 a month for Personal with its five envelopes per month.

The five per month cap on Personal is the detail that decides whether the cheapest plan is realistic. It covers an individual contractor sending the occasional agreement. It does not cover a small business, and the jump from Personal to Standard is $11 to $30 per user, which is where the cost conversation usually starts.

What to check before you hit send

A short list that prevents most of the reissues:

• The document is final. Corrections after signing mean voiding and starting over.
• Every field is assigned to the right recipient. Check the recipient dropdown before dragging each field, not after.
• Required fields are marked required. Otherwise a signer can submit with the date blank.
• The signing order matches how the deal actually closes. Countersignature last, not first.
• The email subject names the document and your company. Generic subjects get ignored or reported as spam.
• Reminders are on if the document has a deadline.

If the envelope limit is the problem

Most teams do not leave DocuSign over features. They leave over the arithmetic: a per user price multiplied by everyone who might occasionally need to send, then capped at 100 envelopes each per year. When signing is spread across a team that each sends a handful of documents a month, you end up buying seats for the right to send, and then still running out.

If that is the shape of your bill, the alternative worth comparing is flat pricing with no per user metering, where you send documents for signature without counting envelopes or buying a seat for every occasional sender. The underlying legal position is identical: both produce a signature binding under the federal ESIGN Act and the state versions of UETA, with an audit trail recording who signed and when. What differs is how the bill is calculated. Our e-signature pricing comparison lays out where each vendor lands, with the date every price was last confirmed.