Compress PDF
Shrink heavy PDFs to send by e-mail or messaging apps.
This tool re-renders each PDF page as an optimized image, with quality and resolution controls. It is the most effective approach for scanned or photo-heavy PDFs — exactly the ones that balloon in size. Note: text is no longer selectable in the output file.
How to use
- Drop the heavy PDF into the area above (or click to select).
- Pick a compression profile: E-mail (smallest), Balanced or High quality.
- Click "Process" and wait for the optimization to finish.
- Check the size reduction in % and download the smaller PDF below.
Why a PDF gets so heavy
In most cases a PDF’s weight comes from the images inside it: phone photos, scanned documents and screenshots come in at high resolution, far beyond what a screen or a print actually needs. A 15-page scanned contract can exceed 30 MB for this reason alone. Text, by contrast, barely adds weight.
Compressing a PDF means trimming that excess: images are resampled to a sensible resolution and re-encoded while the document stays readable. A scanner PDF usually drops 60% to 90% with no visible difference when reading.
Which compression profile to choose
- E-mail (max compression): the smallest possible size. Ideal for email attachments, WhatsApp, or upload forms with size limits. Perfect for documents that will only be read on screen.
- Balanced: the recommended middle ground. Cuts weight substantially while keeping comfortable sharpness for reading and everyday printing.
- High quality: favors image fidelity with a gentler reduction. Use it when the PDF has photos that must stay detailed or will be printed at quality.
Compress without wrecking the document
Not every PDF shrinks: a file that is already just text (exported from Word, say) is light and has no images to optimize — compression will have little effect, and that is normal. This tool never hands back a file larger than the original: if optimizing would not help, it keeps the PDF as is and tells you. The real gains show up on documents with photos and scans.
If your goal is to merge several files before compressing, run merge PDF first, then compress the result.
Everything happens on your device
Compression runs 100% in the browser, using your own device’s processor. The PDF is not uploaded to any server, is not cached in any cloud, and there is no limit on how many files you can compress per day. For documents with personal information — payslips, medical results, contracts — this is the safe way to reduce size without handing your data to a third party.
Frequently asked questions
How much smaller does the file get?
Scanned PDFs typically shrink 60–90% at the default setting. Text-only PDFs may shrink little — in that case the original is probably already small.
Why is text no longer selectable?
To reach maximum in-browser compression, each page is converted to an image. If you need searchable text, only compress scanned PDFs (which are already images).
Which setting should I use for e-mail?
The "E-mail" profile (quality 60, 110 dpi) gets most documents under 10 MB while staying readable on screen.
How do I compress a PDF to under 2 MB?
Start with the "E-mail" profile and, if it is still over 2 MB, lower the quality to 40–50 or drop the resolution to 96 dpi. The final size is shown before you download, so you can hit the exact limit you need — for example, 2 MB to attach in forms or send over messaging apps.