SharePoint eSignature Transforms Business Documents

Let’s talk about something that’s going to make your work life a whole lot easier. Microsoft has rolled out SharePoint eSignature integration right inside Microsoft Word.

If you’ve ever wished you could get contracts or agreements like NDAs, Statements of Work (SOWs), or client consent forms signed without jumping between apps, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. As someone who’s been close to this space for years – first at Microsoft and now as Synozur’s CTO – I can’t wait for you to see how this can streamline the way you work.

Why This Matters

Every day, organizations like ours create critical documents in Microsoft Word. For example, at Synozur we prepare project SOWs for clients, sign NDAs with partners, and get consent forms signed for client case studies. Traditionally, when it came time to sign these, we had to break our flow: save the Word file as a PDF, email it out or upload it to an eSign service, and then chase the signed copy. Often the signed document ended up sitting in someone’s email or a separate system, disconnected from our main files. We lost a bit of control and a lot of insight – that final contract wasn’t easily searchable in our system, and our compliance tools couldn’t watch over it. In short, the moment of signature was a black hole in an otherwise digital process.

Now, with SharePoint eSignature, we can complete the entire signing process inside Microsoft 365. We draft a contract in Word, collaborate on it, and then send it for signature right there. The signed document comes back to our SharePoint library automatically. No converting to PDF, no emailing attachments, no wondering where the final copy is. For Synozur, that means those SOWs, NDAs, and consent forms stay in our house – safe, organized, and instantly accessible.

Key Features at a Glance: 

• Sign Directly in Word: We can add signature fields into a Word document and initiate a signature request without leaving Word. It’s built into the ribbon. This keeps us in our flow – no more saving as PDF or switching apps just to get something signed.

• Auto Save to SharePoint: When a document is signed, the final PDF is automatically saved back into the same folder in SharePoint. The result? Our “Contracts” library always has the latest signed version right alongside the draft. We maintain a single source of truth.

• Stay Within Our Trust Boundary: Because the whole process happens within Microsoft 365, our usual security and compliance measures apply throughout. The content is encrypted and access-controlled the whole time. And we get a complete audit trail (who signed, when, etc.) stored with the document.

• Integrates with Existing Tools: Already using DocuSign or Adobe Sign for some workflows? No problem. This system can work with them too. But for most of our needs, we might not have to – the built-in functionality covers the bases for our standard contracts.

• Templates & Reuse: We can turn frequently used docs (like our standard NDA) into SharePoint content assembly templates with signature fields. Next time we need one, fill in a few blanks, and it’s ready to send. This “build once, use many times” approach will save us a ton of preparation time.

Aspect	Traditional Method (pre-integration)	New Integrated Method (SharePoint eSignature)
Document Drafting	Word (Office 365), saved on PC or SharePoint.	Word (Office 365), saved to SharePoint/Teams.
Preparing for Signature	Manually save as PDF; upload to eSign service or attach to email.	Click “Send for Signature” in Word/SharePoint (auto-PDF in background).
Signature Workflow	External to M365: e.g., Email with PDF or via DocuSign website.	Within M365: eSignature via SharePoint (or integrated partner) – initiated from Word.
Tracking Status	Check email threads or log into third-party app to see if signed.	Check status in SharePoint/Teams; automatic notifications from M365.
Copies of Document	Multiple versions (Word, PDF, signed PDF) scattered across systems.	Single authoritative version in SharePoint (Word draft + signed PDF together).
Security & Compliance	Document leaves the secure tenant; limited control during signing process.	Document stays in tenant; full compliance and audit trail within M365.
Post-Sign Storage	Manual upload of signed copy to SharePoint (often forgotten) or stored in email.	Auto-saved signed copy in SharePoint (no extra step).
Findability & Reuse	Signed content often not indexed (lost to enterprise search/AI).	Signed content indexed and available to search, Graph, Copilot, etc.
Workflow Integration	Signing process is siloed from template, approval, storage systems.	Signing is one click in an integrated workflow (template → approval → sign → store).

Business Impact:

You’re going to see the benefits right away. First, there’s the speed — fewer manual steps mean documents get signed faster, so projects get moving sooner, and deals close quicker. Then there's the simplicity — everything stays in one system, which makes life so much easier and less prone to mistakes. No more second-guessing if you attached the right PDF or included all the pages.

This also makes recordkeeping and record management a breeze. Every signed contract ends up in the right SharePoint library automatically. Last year, when we needed to review all our signed client agreements, it took some effort to track them down across emails and folders. Now, with everything stored in one place, it’s just a quick search in SharePoint. Plus, it really helps with compliance — if there’s an audit or you need to enforce a contract, you’ll know exactly where to find the signed copy, with the full signing process as backup. And you can apply te right retention labels from Purview to assure that you can retain the contracts you needed for as long as you need them.

And let’s be honest, reducing tool fatigue is a big win. You won’t need as many outside services or extra steps for signing documents, which might save on costs. It also keeps everything in one ecosystem, setting you up to harness analytics and AI on your content. For instance, since your contracts stay within Microsoft 365, you could use Copilot to quickly summarize a contract or pull out key points across all your agreements. That’s more of a future benefit, but it’s possible now because your data isn’t stuck in other systems.

We have a fairly lengthy internal support document to coach our employees on creating a new NDA from a content assembly templkate, exporting to PDF, and generating eSignature requests. (We distribute and publish those to our IT site and integrate them to our Copilot Studio IT Assistant agent, BTW.) Streamlining the process means better user adoption.

A new way of handling agreements:

This feature is part of Microsoft’s effort to make managing agreements simpler and more connected. It’s designed so you can create a document, collaborate on it, get approvals, gather signatures, and store it—without bouncing between different tools.

Let’s say you’re finalizing a contract with a partner. You can start an approval process right in Teams, and once everything’s good to go, send it off for a signature directly from Word. The partner gets notified, signs digitally, and that’s it. The signed contract stays safely in SharePoint the entire time.

What makes this so game-changing is how effortless the entire workflow feels now. You don’t need to juggle multiple tools or deal with all the manual steps that used to slow things down — it’s all streamlined and right there for you.

Conclusion

What’s great about SharePoint eSignature is how it simplifies work while keeping your documents secure. It’s not often you get both convenience and control in one solution, but this does just that. At Synozur, it’s already making a noticeable difference—our workflows are smoother, and we have peace of mind knowing our important agreements, like SOWs and NDAs, are well-organized and easy to access.

If your team uses Microsoft 365 and frequently works with contracts or signed documents, this is definitely worth exploring. It’s a meaningful step forward for managing paperwork efficiently. Personally, I feel fortunate to have been part of the early concept behind this feature, and I’m even more excited about how it’s helping businesses today. Give it a try — it might make things a little easier for you and your team!