How to make a PDF smaller
- Drop your PDF.
- Pick a level. Balanced suits most files; Strong gets the smallest size for tight upload limits.
- Click Compress PDF. You’ll see the size before and after, then download.
What to expect
- Scans and photo-heavy PDFs usually shrink a lot (often 50–90%).
- Text documents are already small; this tool turns pages into images, so they may not shrink — if the result would be bigger, we tell you and you keep the original.
- The text in the compressed file is no longer selectable. If you need searchable text, keep the original too.
Need an exact size, like under 1 MB?
Try “Strong” first. For images inside forms, the ImgToSize image compressor hits an exact KB target.
Why this one?
Related tools
Questions, answered
Why can’t I select text in the compressed PDF?
To shrink the file reliably in a browser, each page is re-drawn as an image. That makes it smaller but turns text into pixels. Keep your original if you need searchable text.
Why didn’t my PDF get smaller?
Text-only PDFs are already tiny. If the result would be larger than the original, we show a message instead of giving you a bigger file.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is opened and edited by your own browser. That makes it safe for contracts, IDs and anything private — and it works even on a slow connection once the page has loaded.
Is there a file size or page limit?
We don’t set one. The practical limit is your device’s memory — a few hundred pages is usually fine on a laptop, and large scans may be slow on older phones.
Why can’t it open my PDF?
Password-protected PDFs can’t be read until the password is removed (open it, then Print → Save as PDF). Very unusual or damaged files can fail too.