Where apps hide your files

Where Preview's signatures really live

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Your saved signatures in Preview are not a folder of images you can pick up and move. They are stored by macOS in protected form, so the useful questions are how to sync them, back one up and fix them when they go missing.

What you will and will not find

There is no Signatures folder in Preview's data, and no image file for any signature you can browse to. Preview's own folder is here:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview/Data/Library/

On the Mac checked for this post (macOS Sequoia 15.6), that folder holds the usual set of Library folders, such as Preferences, Caches and Application Support, but no signature file. If you searched for one, that is why you found nothing. When you save a signature, Preview itself says it has been "saved and encrypted for security".

Older Macs behaved differently. Apple Community answers from 2011 to 2013 describe a file called com.apple.Preview.signatures.plist in the container's Preferences folder, with its contents encrypted. On the Sequoia Mac checked here that file is absent: Preferences holds files such as com.apple.Preview.plist and com.apple.Preview.ViewState.plist instead. The same Mac has a small container named com.apple.PreviewLegacySignaturesConversion under ~/Library/Group Containers, whose name suggests old signature data was converted into a newer store. Apple does not document where that store is, so this post does not claim a path for it.

The keychain connection

Community answers say the encryption key, or the signature data itself, sits in your login keychain as an application password. Older posts name the item "Preview Signature Privacy"; a 2023 answer for macOS 13 names it "Signature Annotation Privacy". Treat both as reported rather than confirmed, because Apple does not publish this. It explains the practical limit: copying a file to another Mac would not carry what is needed to decrypt it.

Do not export or read keychain items to try to extract a signature. You cannot turn that data into an image, and exposing keychain passwords is a real risk.

Syncing signatures between Macs

Apple's Preview guide gives the supported route: if you use iCloud Drive, your signatures are available on your other Mac computers that have iCloud Drive turned on. Check on each Mac:

1. Open System Settings, click your name at the top of the sidebar, then iCloud.
2. Make sure iCloud Drive is on, and that both Macs are signed in to the same Apple Account.
3. Give it a few minutes, then open a PDF in Preview, show the Markup toolbar and click the Sign button.

If a signature does not appear, wait a little longer, confirm the Apple Account on both Macs and restart the second one. Nothing is copied by hand, and there is no file to move.

Deleting works the same way in reverse. To remove a signature, click Sign, point at it and click the X beside it. Apple says it is then deleted from all apps that use Markup on your Mac, and from your other Macs that use iCloud Drive. Delete carefully, because it goes everywhere at once.

Making a signature, and where it ends up

In Preview, open a PDF, choose View > Show Markup Toolbar if the toolbar is hidden, click Sign, and pick a method:

• Trackpad: sign with your finger on the trackpad.
• Camera: hold your signature, written on white paper, up to the camera.
• Select Device: sign on a nearby iPhone or iPad.

Click Done when finished. The signature joins the list in the Sign menu. It is not saved as a visible file. Once you place it on a PDF and save, it becomes part of that document, which is the copy you can find, send and back up.

Keeping your own copy

Because the stored signature cannot be exported, make a copy you control:

• Sign a blank page and save it as a PDF in a folder you keep, such as Documents/Signature.pdf. Reuse it whenever you need a signature.
• Scan or photograph your signature on white paper and keep the image. Preview has no option to import an image file as a signature: Apple's guide lists only the trackpad, the camera and a nearby device. To bring a paper signature in, use the Camera option.
• Keep signed documents. Any PDF you have already signed carries the signature.

When you set up a new Mac, do not assume signatures came across. Open the Sign menu on the new Mac to check, and rely on iCloud Drive or your own signed PDF if they did not.

If signatures vanish or fail

• Missing after an update or a new Apple Account: check that you are signed in to the same Apple Account as before and that iCloud Drive is on.
• "Unable to decrypt" errors after copying old files: older community reports describe this when the signatures file is moved without its keychain item. Do not copy such files. Make the signature again.
• The Sign menu is empty or Preview misbehaves: quit Preview, reopen it, and add the signature again.

Do not delete Preview's container folder to fix this. Apple does not document that as a repair, and you would lose Preview's other saved settings.

Finding the signed copies

Since the signature itself cannot be searched for, the files worth finding are the PDFs you have signed. Signed PDFs usually sit in Documents, Downloads or iCloud Drive, which macOS shields from apps, so give Everywhere Full Disk Access when it asks. After that, typing signed or the contract's name lists those PDFs at once, and ⌘Y previews one before you open it. It only sees file names, never the signature inside the document.

Common questions

Where does Preview store signatures on a Mac?

Not in a file you can browse. Preview saves them encrypted, reportedly with a key in your login keychain, and Apple does not document the location. Older Macs used a plist in Preview's container, which the Sequoia Mac checked for this post does not have.

How do I get my Preview signature onto another Mac?

Turn on iCloud Drive on both Macs with the same Apple Account, and Apple says your signatures become available in Preview there. If you need a copy of your own, sign a blank PDF and save it.

Can I export my Preview signature as an image?

Not directly. Keep a signed PDF, or a scan of your signature, as your backup. You can add a signature with the trackpad, the camera or a nearby iPhone or iPad.

Will deleting a signature on one Mac remove it from others?

With iCloud Drive on, yes. Apple says deleting a signature removes it from all apps that use Markup on your Mac and from your other Macs that use iCloud Drive.