Compress PDF
Free PDF compressor and PDF size reducer: shrink PDF files for upload limits and email with Light, Balanced or Maximum compression. Nothing is uploaded.
How to use Compress PDF
- Upload your PDF.
- Choose a level (Light, Balanced or Maximum), or choose Target size and pick the limit your portal sets, such as 200 KB or 1 MB.
- Compress, compare the before and after size, and download.
Common uses
- University and scholarship portals that limit upload size
- Email attachments that are too large to send
- Scanned transcripts, certificates and ID documents
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The PDF is compressed in your browser and never leaves your device.
Will the text still be selectable?
Pages that contain only text are copied into the new file unchanged, so their text stays sharp and selectable. Pages with photos or scans are re-compressed as images at the level you choose, so text on those pages becomes part of the image.
How much smaller will my file get?
Scanned and image-heavy PDFs shrink the most. A PDF that is already mostly text may barely change, because text pages are kept as they are.
Which level should I choose?
Start with Balanced. If the file is still over the portal’s limit, use Maximum; if it looks too soft, use Light.
Compress to a specific size
Related tools
- PDF Merger — Combine multiple PDFs into one file
- JPG to PDF — Combine images into one PDF
- PDF to Word — Real editable text, headings preserved
- Split PDF — Separate pages into independent files