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Compress PDF

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Make a PDF smaller so it fits email attachments and upload forms. Choose strong, balanced or light compression and see the new size straight away. The PDF is compressed on your device and never uploaded.

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How to use Compress PDF

  1. 1

    Drop the PDF you want to make smaller.

  2. 2

    Choose strong, balanced or light compression.

  3. 3

    Compress and download the smaller PDF.

Features

  • Three compression levels
  • Shows original and new file size
  • Works best on scans and image-heavy PDFs
  • No upload: runs on your device

Reduce PDF size for email and upload forms

Email services and online forms often cap attachments at a few megabytes, and scanned documents easily go over. Compress PDF makes the file smaller by redrawing each page as a compressed image at a lower resolution, which is why scans, photo-heavy brochures and PDFs made from phone pictures shrink the most, often by well over half.

Pick Strong when you simply need the smallest PDF for an upload limit, Balanced for everyday documents, and Light when the PDF will be printed. The tool shows the original and new size side by side, and warns you if a text-only PDF wouldn't get any smaller, so you never send a worse file by mistake.

If only a few pages are needed, removing the rest with Split PDF saves even more space and keeps text selectable. Read how to compress a PDF for more ways to make a PDF smaller.

Guides

Frequently asked questions

How does Compress PDF make the file smaller?

Each page is redrawn as a compressed JPG image at a lower resolution and saved into a new PDF. Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos usually shrink the most.

Will I still be able to select and search the text?

No. Because pages are saved as images, text in the compressed PDF can't be selected, copied or searched. Keep your original file if you need that.

Which compression level should I pick?

Balanced suits most documents. Strong gives the smallest file for email or strict upload limits, and Light keeps more detail for printing or zooming in.

Why is my compressed PDF not smaller?

PDFs that are mostly plain text are already compact, and turning their pages into images can make them bigger. The tool tells you when that happens so you can keep the original.

How do I reduce the size of a scanned PDF?

Scanned PDFs are made of page images, so they shrink the most. Use Balanced for documents you will read on screen, or Strong if you need the smallest possible file.

Can I compress a PDF to a specific size, like 1 MB?

There is no exact size setting, but the result shows the new size before you download. If Strong is still too big, remove pages you don't need with Split PDF and compress again.

Can I compress a PDF on my phone?

Yes. Compress PDF runs in the browser on Android phones, iPhones and tablets, so there is no app to install.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Compress PDF runs entirely in your browser, so your files stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded, stored or seen by anyone else.

Is Compress PDF free?

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up and no watermarks.