Compress PDF

Make a PDF small enough for email, an online form or a job portal. Choose a level, or type the exact size you need, such as 200 KB. Your file stays on your device.

  • Free
  • 100% private
  • No signup
Drop a PDF here or tap to choose
Scans, forms, certificates, photos in a PDF. Nothing is uploaded: it all happens on your device.

Compress a PDF online for free

A PDF with scanned pages or photos can easily be 5 or 10 MB, which is too big for many email services, government portals, exam forms and job sites. This free tool makes the file smaller in your browser. Pick Light, Recommended or Smallest, or tick the exact-size box and type a limit such as 100 KB, 200 KB or 1 MB.

Your PDF is not uploaded anywhere. The pages are read and rewritten on your own phone or computer, so private papers such as certificates, ID cards and bank statements never leave your device.

How to compress a PDF

  1. Drop your PDF on the box or tap it to choose a file.
  2. Choose how small you want it: Light, Recommended or Smallest. For a form with a size limit, tick I need an exact size and type it.
  3. Press Compress PDF and wait a moment while the pages are processed.
  4. Check the before and after sizes and the first page, then press Download PDF.

What works best

  • Scans, photos, certificates and forms made from pictures shrink the most.
  • Switch on Black and white for scanned text; it often makes the file noticeably smaller.
  • A PDF that is mostly typed text is often small already. Compressing it makes the text a picture, so keep the original for those.
  • Need to take a PDF apart first? Use the PDF to Image Converter, or build a PDF with the Image to PDF Converter.

Compress PDF: common questions

Yes. It is free, needs no account, has no daily limit and does not add a watermark.

No. The PDF is opened and rewritten inside your browser. It never leaves your device, so private documents stay private.

Tick "I need an exact size", type 200 (or 100) and choose KB, then press Compress PDF. The tool tries stronger and stronger settings until the file is under your limit. A very long PDF may not reach a very small limit, so try Black and white too.

To make the file small, every page is saved as a picture. Pictures of text look the same but cannot be selected or searched. If you need selectable text, keep the original file.

A PDF that is mostly text, or one that is already well compressed, can not get much smaller this way. The tool tells you when that happens, so you can keep the original or try the Smallest level.

No. Remove the password first, then compress it.

There is no fixed limit, but the work happens on your device. A PDF of a few hundred pages or over 100 MB can be slow on an older phone, so a computer is better for those.