Compress a PDF
Shrink a PDF enough to email or upload it, with a quality preset you choose — and the before/after size shown so you are not guessing.
Runs in your browser · Your file is never uploaded · No account needed
How to compress a PDF
- Open the PDF you want to shrink.
- Pick a quality preset — lighter for email, higher to keep detail.
- Compress, then compare the original and new size.
- Save the smaller file if you are happy with it.
What you get
- Quality presets rather than a single blunt “compress” button.
- The before and after file size, so you can judge the trade-off.
- Image-heavy scans get the biggest savings.
- Text stays selectable and searchable after compression.
- Your document is processed on your device, never uploaded.
When you would use it
Get under an email attachment limit
Most mail servers stop at 20–25 MB; a lighter preset usually clears it in one pass.
Upload to a portal with a size cap
Government and university forms often cap at 2 MB — compress first, then submit.
Shrink a phone-scanned document
Photos of paperwork are enormous for what they contain and compress dramatically.
Why it stays on your device
Most online PDF sites upload your document to a server, process it there and email you a link. This one does not. The PDF is opened, changed and saved by your own browser, so a contract, a bank statement or an ID scan never travels over the network — and the tool keeps working on a slow connection.
Questions
How much smaller will my PDF get?
It depends on what is inside. Scans and photo-heavy files often drop by more than half; a PDF that is mostly text is already small and will change less.
Will compressing blur my document?
The lighter presets reduce image detail — that is where the size goes. Text is not rasterised, so it stays sharp at any preset.
Why is my PDF still large?
A PDF built from high-resolution scans carries the images at full size. Try a lighter preset, or crop away margins first.
Is the original file changed?
No. You download a new, smaller copy — the original is untouched.
How do I compress a PDF to under 2 MB?
Choose a lighter preset and check the reported size. If it is still over, crop the margins first — that removes image area the compressor would otherwise keep.
Does compressing a PDF lose quality?
Image detail is reduced — that is where the size savings come from — but text is never rasterised, so it stays crisp.
Related tools
All tools: Split PDF Merge PDF Edit PDF Crop PDF Watermark Organize pages Create PDF Page numbers Redact / Censor Get text PDF viewer PDF to Office Translate PDF Protect PDF Repair PDF Sign PDF Word to PDF
Get Compress PDF on your device
The same tool, three ways — and offline on Windows and Android, so a document never needs a connection at all.
Prefer a page first? About the Windows app · About the Android app