How to compress a PDF
- Base camp
Drop one or more PDF files into the box above, or click Choose files.
- Camp 1
Pick a compression level. Recommended suits most files; choose Strong when you need to get under a strict size limit.
- Summit
Check the new size next to each file, then click Download, or Download all for a ZIP.
What changes when you compress
| Original PDF | Compressed PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and scans | Full camera or scanner resolution | Re-saved as JPG, at most 2000 px on the long side (Recommended) |
| Text and vector graphics | Sharp | Unchanged, still sharp and selectable |
| Links, bookmarks, forms | Included | Kept |
| Page count and layout | Original | Unchanged |
| Typical saving | – | 50–80% for scans and photo PDFs, little for text-only PDFs |
A phone scan or a PDF exported from a presentation often contains images at a far higher resolution than a screen or an office printer can show. Re-saving them at a sensible size and JPG quality removes most of the weight while the page looks the same.
Text-only PDFs, such as invoices or contracts generated by software, are already small, because text is stored as characters and fonts, not pictures. Compressing them gains little, and the tool tells you when it keeps the original.
Choosing a compression level
Light keeps images up to 3000 pixels at high quality, good for documents you may print. Recommended limits them to 2000 pixels, which still looks sharp on screen and on an office printer. Strong goes down to 1300 pixels and a lower JPG quality for the smallest file, good enough for reading on screen.
If a level makes the file only slightly smaller, the images are probably already compressed well. Images the tool cannot safely re-encode, such as print-ready CMYK pictures, are left exactly as they were.
Frequently asked questions
Are my PDFs uploaded to a server?
No. The PDF is opened and re-saved inside your browser, on your own device. That makes the tool safe for contracts, bank statements and other private documents.
Will the text become blurry?
No. Only pictures are re-compressed. Real text, lines and vector drawings are copied unchanged, so they stay sharp and you can still select and search the text. In a scanned PDF the pages are pictures, so they are compressed like photos.
Why did my PDF barely get smaller?
Most of its size is probably text, fonts or images that are already compressed well. If the result would not be smaller, the tool keeps your original file.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. Remove the password first, for example by opening the PDF and saving or printing it as a new PDF, then compress that copy.
Can I compress several PDFs at once?
Yes. Add as many files as you like. They are compressed one after another, and Download all packs them into a single ZIP file.
Related guides
- How to make a PDF small enough to emailWhy scanned and photo-heavy PDFs get so big, and how to shrink them under email limits.
- How to merge, split and reorder PDF pagesCombine PDFs, extract or remove pages, and change the page order without special software.
Related tools
PDF → JPG
Save each page of a PDF as a JPG image, at the resolution you need.PDF → PNG
Save each page of a PDF as a sharp PNG image, with an optional transparent background.PDF → MERGED PDF
Combine several PDF files into one, in the order you choose.PDF → SEPARATE PDFS
Save every page as its own PDF, or pull out the pages you need.PDF → ROTATED PDF
Turn sideways or upside-down PDF pages the right way up and save them.JPG → PDF
Combine photos and scans into a single PDF, in the order you choose.