Compress PDF
Shrink a PDF for email or upload forms: scans and photos inside are compressed while text stays sharp. Three levels, sizes shown before you download.
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Make a PDF file smaller
Email attachments, upload forms and portals often limit file size. Most oversized PDFs are big because of the photos inside them — scanned pages, phone pictures, product shots. This tool compresses those images and re-saves the file compactly, then shows the old size, the new size and the saving.
How to compress a PDF
- Upload the PDF.
- Choose Light (best quality), Balanced or Strong (smallest file).
- Compress, compare the sizes and download the smaller file.
What to expect
- Scans and photo-heavy PDFs often shrink by 50–90%. Each photo is scaled down and re-compressed, and only replaced when that really saves space.
- Text, fonts and drawings are not touched: they stay sharp, searchable and selectable.
- A PDF that is mostly text has little to compress. If it is still too big, delete pages you don’t need with Remove PDF Pages, or send part of it with Split PDF.
- Making a PDF from photos? Image to PDF can keep it small from the start.
Compression happens in your browser, so your document is never uploaded.
Guides
- How to Compress a PDF to Send by EmailPDF too big to attach? Compress it in your browser so it fits Gmail and Outlook limits — scans often shrink by 80% while text stays sharp.
- How to Make a PDF Under 1 MB or 2 MB for an Upload FormVisa, job and university portals often reject PDFs over 1, 2 or 5 MB. Here’s how to get a scanned document under the limit without making it unreadable.
- How to Merge PDFs on iPhone (Free, No App Needed)Combine several PDFs into one on your iPhone in Safari: add the files, put them in order, download. No app or sign-up, and the files stay on your phone.
- How to Combine PDF Files on Windows Without AcrobatWindows has no built-in way to merge PDFs, and the free Acrobat Reader can’t do it either. Here’s how to combine PDFs for free in Edge or Chrome.
Related tools
- Resize PDFChange page size to A4, Letter, Legal, A3, A5 or custom, with pages scaled to fit and text kept sharp.
- N-up PDF (Pages per Sheet)Print 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 or 16 pages on each sheet — ideal for slides, handouts and notes.
- Crop PDFTrim white margins or scanner borders from every page, with a live preview. Nothing is re-compressed.
- Protect PDFPassword-protect your PDF with AES-256 encryption and choose print, copy and edit limits. Your file never leaves your device.
- Unlock PDFRemove the password from a PDF you own. Enter the current password to unlock and download.
- Redact PDFBlack out names and numbers by drawing boxes or searching — the hidden text is removed for real.