Compress PDF
Optimize PDF documents in-browser using object stream compression to reduce file size for email attachments and web uploads.
Choose a PDF to compress, or drag it here
Works best on scanned documents and PDFs with photos. Nothing is uploaded.
How to use Compress PDF
- Choose a PDF.
- Pick Smallest file for maximum savings, or Keep text selectable.
- For Smallest file, choose a strength and click Compress PDF.
- Compare the result and download it.
About Compress PDF
Make a PDF smaller for email, uploads, and storage. Choose Smallest file for big savings on scans and image-heavy documents, or Keep text selectable for a lighter clean-up that leaves text searchable. You can preview the result and check its quality before downloading.
Related tools: Merge PDF, Split PDF, Image to PDF Converter, Rotate PDF Online — 90° or 180°
Two ways to compress
Smallest file redraws every page as an optimized image and rebuilds the PDF. Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos often shrink by 70 to 90 percent. Balanced keeps pages sharp, Smaller is a good default for sharing, and Smallest is for email size limits. The trade-off is that text can no longer be selected or searched.
Keep text selectable rewrites the file's internal structure more efficiently. It keeps everything about the document intact, but savings are usually small, from nothing to about 20 percent.
When a PDF will not get smaller
Text-only PDFs made by Word or Google Docs are already compact. Rendering their pages as images can make them larger, so the tool checks the result and tells you when a file is already well optimized, instead of handing you a bigger file.
Check the preview at full size before downloading, especially for documents with small print.
Common uses
- Email attachments
- Get a scanned contract or form under a 10 MB or 25 MB limit.
- Online applications
- Meet upload size limits for job, visa, and school portals.
- Sharing scans
- Shrink multi-page phone scans before sending them.
- Archiving
- Reduce the size of document folders.
Questions about Compress PDF
- Are files deleted?
- Files are processed in local memory and are never uploaded to any server.
- Why did my PDF barely shrink?
- If you used Keep text selectable, switch to Smallest file. If the PDF contains mostly text, it is already compact.
- Will text still be searchable?
- Only with Keep text selectable. Smallest file turns pages into images, so text is no longer selectable or searchable. Run OCR afterwards if you need searchable text.
- Is my document uploaded?
- No. Compression runs in your browser.
- Which strength should I pick?
- Start with Balanced. If the file is still too large, try Smaller, then Smallest, and check the preview for readability.
Comments
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