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Compress PDF

Processed in this browser

File limit: 32 MB

This tool never uploads your input.

Drop a file

Drop a file here or choose one.

Sample workflow: choose a PDF on this device, then Process. The file stays in this tab.

Pages are redrawn as JPEG. Selectable text is usually lost. Not Ghostscript, no exact KB target.

This step may download a library in this browser the first time you use it.

Rebuild each page as JPEG in this tab so scans and camera PDFs usually get smaller. Text-only files often barely shrink, and you cannot select the words afterward.

A portal rejected the attachment, or Gmail offered a Drive link instead of a real file. That is the job this page is for: making a scan-heavy PDF small enough to send, without handing the document to a compression service.

This compressor does not run Ghostscript and does not rewrite objects “losslessly.” It draws each page and encodes that drawing as JPEG, then wraps the images in a new PDF. Phone photos of a contract usually drop a lot of weight. A text-only export from Word often does not.

When shrinking actually works

  • Camera or scanner PDFs for a job application, visa pack, or homework upload.
  • A packet that is already images — screenshots, receipts, whiteboard photos.
  • Files you will not upload to a third-party PDF brand, even if they advertise a one-hour delete policy.

It is the wrong tool if you must keep copy-paste, links, or a searchable text layer. Zipping a single PDF rarely helps either; the email limit still sees one fat file.

How to use it

  1. Drop the original PDF from this device. Renaming the extension does nothing, and other file types are rejected here.
  2. Pick a quality level. Lower JPEG quality usually means a smaller file and softer type on the page.
  3. Process in this tab, then download. Watch the browser’s network panel if you want proof the bytes never leave.

Typical ceiling is about 32 MB. A 40 MB scan pack will not start. Split it first.

Limits worth reading before you click

  • Selectable text is gone after a JPEG rebuild. extract-pdf-text will not recover it from the result.
  • Password-protected or corrupted PDFs may fail in the tab.
  • Print shops and “exact 300 KB résumé portals” are not a promised outcome. If you only need pages 3–7, split the PDF instead of crushing the whole binder.
  • To combine several PDFs into one attachment, use merge PDF, then come back if the merge is still huge.
  • Photos that are not yet a PDF belong on JPG to PDF or compress image first.

This is a local utility, not professional prepress or legal advice.

FAQ

Will this get my PDF under 300 KB or exactly 1 MB?

No. There is no target-size guarantee. Stronger JPEG quality settings usually shrink scans more, but an already-optimized text PDF may stay almost the same size.

Can I still copy text after compressing?

Usually not. This tool rasterizes pages into JPEG images and builds a new PDF. If you need a selectable text layer later, keep the original or use a different workflow.

My PDF is too big for Gmail. What size should I aim for?

Gmail’s personal-account attachment limit is 25 MB. Encoded attachments add overhead, so many people aim nearer 18–20 MB for a single file. If one file is still huge, split pages first, then compress the scan-heavy parts.

Does the PDF leave my computer?

No. Processing stays in this browser tab. We do not offer a “we delete it in an hour” cloud copy because the file is never sent.

The file barely got smaller. What now?

That is common for digital text PDFs with already-compressed fonts. Try removing unused pages, splitting the file, or compressing the photos before you build a PDF.

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