PACER for Beginners: A Pro Se Tutorial

PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records — is how you view everything that happens in your federal case. Every filing, every order, every docket entry. The official PACER manual is a dense PDF that reads like it was written for IT administrators. This guide is for humans who just need to find their case and see what's going on.

What You Need Before You Start

A PACER account. Registration is free at pacer.uscourts.gov. You need your name, email, address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. The account is usually active within one business day. For the full registration walkthrough, see our CM/ECF registration guide — the PACER account creation is Phase 1.

Understanding What You're Looking At

PACER organizes everything around three concepts you need to understand before diving in.

The docket

The docket is the complete chronological record of everything that's happened in a case. Every filing, every order, every minute entry by the clerk — listed in order with dates and descriptions. The docket is the spine of your case. When attorneys or judges say "check the docket," they mean look at this list. Each entry on the docket has a number (docket entry 1, 2, 3, etc.) and a description of what was filed.

Docket entries

Each item on the docket is a docket entry. Some entries are just text notations by the clerk (like "Case assigned to Judge Smith"). Others have attached PDF documents you can view and download — these are the actual filings (complaints, motions, orders, exhibits). The document number in the docket entry is a clickable link that opens the PDF.

Case number

Every federal case has a unique identifier in the format 2:25-cv-01013. The first number is the division (or judge assignment code), followed by a colon. The two-digit number after the colon is the year (25 = 2025). The letters indicate case type (cv = civil, cr = criminal, mc = miscellaneous). The last five digits are the sequential case number. This number appears on every document in your case and is how you find your case on PACER.

Searching for a Case

1. Log in at pacer.uscourts.gov with your username and password.
2. Select "Find a Case" from the main navigation. This takes you to the PACER Case Locator — a search tool that spans all federal courts.
3. Search by case number if you know it. Enter the full case number (e.g., 2:25-cv-01013) and select the correct court. This is the fastest way to find your own case.
4. Search by party name if you don't know the case number. Enter the plaintiff or defendant's last name. You can narrow results by court, case type, and date range. Results show all matching cases across the federal system.
5. Click the case number in the search results to go to that case's page. From there you can view the docket, case summary, and all filed documents.

Viewing the Docket Sheet

The docket sheet is the most important page in PACER for a pro se litigant. It shows every filing and event in chronological order. Here's how to read it.

Each row contains a date (when it was filed or entered), a docket number (sequential entry number), and a description (what happened). If the entry has an attached document, the docket number is a blue hyperlink. Click it to view or download the PDF. If the number isn't a link, the entry is a text-only notation with no attached document — the text of the entry itself is the record.

When you click a document link, PACER shows you a receipt page confirming the document, number of pages, and the cost before you download. This is your chance to decide whether to proceed. The receipt page doesn't charge you — the charge only happens when you view or download the actual document.

Downloading Documents

When you click a document link on the docket, PACER opens the PDF in your browser. You can read it on screen or download it using your browser's download function (usually Ctrl+S or the download icon). Each document you access is charged at PACER rates — but several important cost protections exist.

The free look

When a new document is filed in your case and you receive a CM/ECF email notification, the notification contains a link to the document. The first time you click that link within 15 days of the filing date, it's free. This is called the "free look." After 15 days, or if you access the same document again, standard PACER fees apply. Use your free looks — they're the most valuable cost-saving feature in PACER.

Viewing multiple pages

PACER charges per page, not per document. A 1-page order costs $0.10. A 30-page motion costs $3.00 (which also happens to be the per-document cap). If you're just checking whether something was filed and don't need to read the whole thing, viewing the first page is enough to confirm it — and costs only $0.10.

PACER Costs Explained

In practice, most pro se litigants monitoring a single case stay well under $30 per quarter. The quarterly waiver means your PACER use is effectively free as long as you're not doing heavy research across multiple cases. If you do go over $30, you're billed quarterly by mail or can set up automatic payment.

Practical Tips for Pro Se Litigants

Use PACER to learn from other filings

One of the most valuable things you can do as a pro se litigant is look at how attorneys format their filings in your court, in front of your judge. Search for similar cases in your district and view the dockets. See how experienced litigators structure their motions, responses, and briefs. Pay attention to formatting, citation style, and the level of detail judges expect. This is free legal education hiding in plain sight.

Track your deadlines from the docket

Every scheduling order, every deadline extension, every court order with a response deadline appears on the docket. Check your docket regularly — at least weekly during active litigation. Don't rely solely on mail or email notifications. If CM/ECF has a glitch or the mail is slow, checking PACER directly is your safety net.

Download everything

When you view a document using your free look, download it immediately and save it to your computer. Organize your downloads by docket entry number. You don't want to re-access a document and pay PACER fees because you forgot to save it the first time.

Check the docket before hearings

The day before any court hearing, check PACER for any last-minute filings or orders. Judges sometimes issue tentative rulings, supplemental briefing requests, or scheduling changes that appear on the docket but may not reach you by mail in time.

PACER Case Locator vs. Court-Specific PACER

There are two ways to access cases on PACER. The PACER Case Locator (at pacer.uscourts.gov) searches across all federal courts — useful when you don't know which court a case is in, or when you're searching for cases in multiple districts. Court-specific PACER is accessed by going directly to a particular court's CM/ECF system — useful when you know exactly which court you want and want to access the docket directly.

For most pro se litigants, the Case Locator is the best starting point. Find your case, bookmark the docket page, and access it directly from your bookmark going forward.

PACER on Your Phone

PACER works in mobile browsers. There's no dedicated app, but the website is functional on phones and tablets. You can check your docket, view notifications, and download documents from anywhere. The interface isn't optimized for mobile (it looks like a desktop site squeezed onto a small screen), but it works.

One practical benefit: if you're at the courthouse and need to reference a specific filing, you can pull it up on your phone through PACER rather than carrying printed copies of everything.

Getting Help

If you have trouble with PACER — login issues, billing questions, technical problems — contact the PACER Service Center at 800-676-6856 (toll-free). They're available Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM Eastern. They can help with account issues, fee questions, and basic navigation. They cannot help with case-specific legal questions — for those, contact the clerk's office of the court where your case is filed.