Compress PDF

Shrink your PDF's file size right in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Pick a compression level, drop a file, and download the smaller version.

Light, Balanced, and Strong re-render pages as images, so text is no longer selectable in the compressed file. Use Lossless to keep it.

Or hit an exact size limit:underDrop a PDF first

Drop a PDF to compress

or browse files

How compression works

Lossless mode rewrites the PDF with a tighter internal structure, keeping every page exactly as it was. The other levels re-render each page and re-encode it as an optimized JPEG — great for scans and image-heavy documents. Everything happens in your browser.

Tips

Scanned documents shrink the most with Balanced or Strong. For contracts or anything where text must stay selectable and searchable, stick with Lossless. Switching levels re-compresses the same file instantly — no need to drop it again.

Where PDF bloat comes from, and how compression works

Nine times out of ten, an oversized PDF is oversized because of images: scanner apps save pages at print resolution, and exported decks embed full-size photos. Compression attacks exactly that. Lossless mode rewrites the file's internal structure without touching a pixel — modest savings, zero quality cost, text stays selectable. The lossy levels re-encode page images at sensible resolutions — dramatic savings on scans, with quality you choose. The size result shows instantly, so you can try levels freely before downloading.

Hitting a size target

  1. 1Drop in your PDF — it compresses at the Balanced level automatically and shows the before/after size.
  2. 2Switching levels re-compresses the same file instantly: Lossless for contracts, Light or Balanced for everyday sharing, Strong for the smallest files.
  3. 3Need to satisfy a hard limit? Enter it — "under 500 KB", "under 1 MB" — and click Auto-compress; the tool walks the quality ladder and stops at the gentlest level that fits.
  4. 4If even maximum compression can't reach an extreme cap, the tool says so honestly and suggests splitting out only the required pages first.
  5. 5Download the compressed file — no watermark, full page count.

The usual reasons

  • Email attachment bounced at 25 MB
  • Government or exam portals demanding files under 200–500 KB
  • Job application systems with 1–5 MB caps
  • Archiving years of scans without eating storage
  • Speeding up files that are slow to open and send

Frequently asked questions

Which level should I use for a contract?

Lossless — it keeps text selectable and searchable and typically trims meaningful size from structure alone. The lossy levels re-render pages as images, which reads fine but loses text selection.

How much smaller will my scan get?

Phone and scanner PDFs typically shrink 60–90% at Balanced because their images carry far more resolution than reading requires. Digitally-created text PDFs shrink less — they were never bloated.

Is there an input size limit?

No — compression runs on your device, so even very large scans process; speed depends on your hardware.

Why did Lossless barely shrink my file?

The file was already efficiently built. Real savings for such files only come from the image re-encoding levels — try Balanced and compare the preview sizes.