Compress PDF files
Make a PDF small enough to send or upload. Choose one of two levels, compress, and read the old and new size on each file's row.
Add one or more PDF files.
or drop files here
Your PDF is handled inside this browser tab and is never uploaded.
How to use it
- Press ‘Choose files’ and add one or more PDFs. ‘Add more’ adds further files, and ‘Clear’ empties the list.
- Under ‘Compression’, pick ‘Basic’ for a letter or report saved from an app, or ‘Strong’ for a scan or a PDF built from photos.
- Press ‘Compress PDF’. Each row then shows the old size, the new size and how much you saved, as a percentage.
- Press ‘Download’ for a single file or ‘Download all (ZIP)’ for several. Each row carries its own download icon as well.
- Still too big? Switch to ‘Strong’ and press ‘Compress PDF’ again; it starts from your original file.
What it does
Basic leaves the content alone
‘Basic’ repacks the file's structure, recompresses its data at the highest lossless setting and drops resources that no page uses. Text and pictures are not re-encoded, so the document stays sharp and searchable, but the saving can be small.
Strong turns pages into pictures
‘Strong’ redraws each page as a JPEG at about 144 dpi and quality 62 (never more than 2,000 pixels on the long side) and builds a new PDF with the same page sizes. Scans and PDFs full of pictures shrink the most, but nothing on the page can be selected, searched or copied afterwards.
Sizes you can see
Each row lists the original size, the new size and how much smaller the file is. The line under the button adds up what you saved across all files.
Try both levels on one file
Changing the level clears the results. Compressing again always starts from your original file, so one attempt never degrades the next.
Many files in one go
Add as many PDFs as you like. They are processed one after another, and a file that fails, such as a password-protected one, does not stop the others.
A copy, never a replacement
Compressing creates new files for download and leaves your PDFs as they are. The copies keep their original names, so save them in a different folder or rename them if you want both versions.
Good to know
Which level? Think about where the PDF came from. A report or a spreadsheet saved as PDF is mostly text and line art, so ‘Basic’ leaves it exactly as it is, though there may be little to save. A scan or a PDF built from phone photos is a stack of large pictures, which ‘Basic’ leaves alone; ‘Strong’ is the level that makes a real difference there.
‘Strong’ draws pages at about 144 dpi, which is plenty for reading on screen but softer than a 300 dpi scan on paper, so fine print and thin lines can lose crispness. Look at a page or two before you send the file. Links, form fields, bookmarks and the text layer are gone, because the pages are now pictures. Keep the original, and run PDF OCR on the result if you need searchable text again.
There is no target-size setting such as under 1 MB, so you pick a level and read the result. Compressing also rewrites the file, so a certificate-based digital signature inside it will no longer validate: compress first and sign afterwards. If it is still over a limit, divide it into shorter files with Split PDF and send them one by one.
Questions and answers
Why did my PDF barely get smaller?
‘Basic’ leaves text and pictures exactly as they are, so a PDF that is already tightly built has little to give up, and one made of large JPEG pictures stays large. For scans and photo-heavy files, try ‘Strong’.
Can I still select and search the text afterwards?
After ‘Basic’, yes. After ‘Strong’, no, because every page is a picture; run PDF OCR on the result if you need a text layer again.
Can I compress a PDF to a specific size, like 1 MB?
There is no size target. You choose ‘Basic’ or ‘Strong’ and read the result, and ‘Strong’ saves the most. If it is still over a limit, Split PDF can divide it into several shorter files.
Why does a row say the original was kept?
The compressed result was not smaller than the file you added, so the tool gives your file back instead of a bigger one. The download on that row is your original.
Can I process more than one PDF in a single run?
Yes. Add them all, choose a level and press ‘Compress PDF’. Download each file from its row, or take everything with ‘Download all (ZIP)’.
Does my PDF get uploaded to be compressed?
No. ‘Basic’ runs in a small program inside your browser and ‘Strong’ uses the browser to draw the pages, so your PDFs stay on your device.