New
Merge PDF
Combine PDFs into one file, reorder them and pick exactly which pages to keep from each.
How it works
Compress PDF
Make PDFs small enough to email or upload. Images inside the PDF are resized and recompressed, while text, fonts and vector graphics stay exactly as they were.
- 01
Choose a compression level. Recommended suits most documents.
- 02
Drop in one or more PDFs. Each one shows its new size and how many images were recompressed.
- 03
Download the smaller PDFs one by one, or all together as a zip.
About this tool
Why PDFs get big, and how this shrinks them
Almost all of a large PDF's size comes from images: scanned pages, photos and screenshots, often saved at far higher resolution than anyone will ever see. A 30-page report with phone photos can easily reach 50 MB, too big for most email providers and upload forms.
This tool finds every image inside the PDF, scales it down to a sensible resolution for the level you choose, and re-encodes it as an efficient JPEG. Text, fonts and vector drawings aren't touched, so they stay crisp and selectable, unlike tools that turn every page into a picture. Images that wouldn't get smaller, or that use colour formats that could shift, are left exactly as they are.
Text stays sharp
Only images are recompressed; text and vector graphics are untouched and still searchable.
Three levels
Light, Recommended or Strong, from near-identical to smallest file.
Batch compression
Drop several PDFs at once and download them all as a zip.
Never larger
If a PDF can't get smaller, you get the original back.
Private
Compression runs on your device, which matters for contracts and statements.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a PDF smaller for email?
Drop it in with the Recommended or Strong level. Most PDFs that are large because of photos or scans shrink by 50–90%, often under typical email limits of 20–25 MB.
Will compressing a PDF reduce quality?
Text and vector graphics keep their full quality. Photos and scans are resized and recompressed; at Light and Recommended the difference is hard to see on screen.
Why didn't my PDF get much smaller?
PDFs that are mostly text, or whose images are already compressed, have little to remove. The tool shows how many images it found and recompressed.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Remove the password first with Protect PDF's Remove a password option, compress it, then protect it again.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. This tool runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your files and text never leave your device, so it's safe for private or confidential work.
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