What's the difference between 'fill out' and 'fill in'?

In American English, 'fill out' is standard for completing forms. In British English, 'fill in' is more common. Both mean the same thing when talking about forms. However, 'fill in' also means to update someone with information they missed (e.g., 'Can you fill me in on the meeting?').

Can I say 'fill' without 'out'?

Not when talking about forms. 'Fill' alone usually means to make something full (like 'fill a glass'). For documents and forms, you need 'fill out' or 'fill in'.

Is 'fill out' formal or informal?

'Fill out' is neutral—you can use it in emails, Slack, meetings, and formal documents. It's appropriate for all workplace situations.

What do I fill out in a tech job?

Common things to fill out include: Jira tickets, PR templates, timesheets, expense reports, onboarding forms, surveys, and feedback forms.

How do I ask someone politely to fill out a form?

You can say: 'Could you please fill out this form?' or 'Would you mind filling out this survey?' Adding 'please' or using 'would you mind' makes it more polite.

What Does "Fill Out" Mean at Work?

Commonness
Versatility
Formality	CasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓Can you fill out the Jira ticket with the acceptance criteria?

✓Don't forget to fill out your timesheet before Friday.

✓Please fill out the survey—it only takes 2 minutes.

✓I need everyone to fill out this form for the new project.

✓Have you filled out the expense report yet?

Real examples

Standup

"I still need to fill out the sprint retrospective form before our meeting."

Slack message

"Hey team, please fill out this quick survey about the new feature by EOD."

GitHub PR

"Make sure to fill out the PR template with all the required sections."

Jira ticket

"Please fill out the acceptance criteria field before moving this to 'Ready for Dev'."

Retrospective

"Everyone needs to fill out the feedback form before we start the discussion."

Sprint planning

"Can you fill out the story points and priority before we estimate?"

Pair programming

"Let me fill out the function parameters here so we can test it."

Don't say this

✕Please fill the form.

✓Please fill out the form.— In American English, 'fill out' is the standard phrase for completing forms. 'Fill' alone sounds incomplete.

✕Fill out me about the project.

✓Fill me in about the project.— 'Fill out' is for forms/documents. 'Fill in' (someone) means to give someone information they missed.

✕I filled out him the details.

✓I filled out the form with the details.— 'Fill out' takes a document as its object, not a person.

Other forms

base form

fill out

"Please fill out the form."

third person singular

fills out

"She fills out the ticket before each sprint."

past tense

filled out

"I filled out the survey yesterday."

present participle

filling out

"I'm filling out the expense report now."

past participle

filled out

"The form has been filled out."

Often used with

fill out a formThe most common combination—any type of form.

fill out a surveyUsed for feedback or research surveys.

fill out a ticketCommon in Jira or other project management tools.

fill out a templateUsed for PR templates, document templates, etc.

fill out the detailsAdding specific information to any document.

Similar words

completeMore formal; works in any context.

fill inBritish English prefers 'fill in'; same meaning.

submitOften comes after filling out—sending the completed form.

enterMore specific to typing data into fields.

Opposites

leave blankskipignore

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural sentence

1. Your manager asks you to complete a feedback survey.

Please fill the survey.Please fill out the survey.Please fill up the survey.

Find the error

2. Can you fill out me about what happened in the meeting?

fill out me → fill me inwhat happened → what happenin the meeting → at the meeting

Complete the sentence

3. Don't forget to _____ the PR template before requesting a review.

Rewrite more naturally

4. Please write all the information in the Jira ticket fields.

More words

submit template acceptance criteria timesheet onboarding feedback

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "fill out" in a standup this week?

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

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