Compress PDF
Reduce PDF file size in your browser, no upload.
About the Compress PDF
Make a big PDF smaller so it’s easier to email or upload. Choose a compression level — or switch to Custom to set your own resolution and quality — and download a reduced file. It works especially well on scanned documents and image-heavy PDFs, which are usually the ones that are too large.
For scanned text, turn on Grayscale to drop color and shrink the file dramatically. Everything runs in your browser: the PDF is read, re-rendered, and re-saved locally and is never uploaded, so there’s no account and no waiting on a server. Compression re-renders each page as an image, which is what shrinks scans (note that selectable text becomes part of the image afterwards).
How to use it
- 1Choose a PDF. Select the PDF you want to shrink.
- 2Pick a level. Choose High quality, Balanced, Smallest, or Custom — and turn on Grayscale for scans.
- 3Download. Compress and download the smaller PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?+
No. The file is read and compressed entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server, and there’s no sign-up.
How much smaller will it get?+
It depends on the file. Scanned or image-heavy PDFs often shrink by 50–80%. A PDF that’s mostly plain text is already very compact and may not get smaller — you’ll see the before/after size and a note if that happens.
Why did compression make my PDF bigger?+
Because compression re-renders each page as a JPEG image. That’s a big win for scans but can increase the size of a text-only PDF, which is already efficiently stored. In that case keep the original.
Will the text still be selectable afterwards?+
No. Each page becomes an image, so selectable text and links are flattened. Use it when a smaller file matters more than editable text; otherwise keep the original.
What does the Grayscale option do?+
It renders every page in shades of gray, dropping color before the pages are saved. For scanned text documents this often shrinks the file a lot more, since gray images compress smaller than color ones. Leave it off if the color in your PDF matters.
What is the Custom level for?+
The three presets pick a fixed resolution and quality for you. Custom exposes a resolution (DPI) slider and a JPEG quality slider so you can trade sharpness for size directly — lower them for a smaller file, raise them for crisper pages.
Can I also split a PDF or extract pages?+
Yes — use the Split PDF tool to break a PDF into single pages or pull out a page range.
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