Compress PDF
Make a PDF smaller by optimizing its pages as images. Great for scans, all in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
Files processed in your browserSelect a PDF or drag & drop
One PDF, up to 100 MB
Your files never leave your device. Compress PDF runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded to a server. When you close this tab, your file is gone from memory.
How to compress pdf
- Select your PDF. Choose or drag in the PDF you want to shrink.
- Pick a level. Light keeps the most quality; Strong makes the smallest file.
- Compress. Press Compress PDF. Each page is re-rendered as an optimized image.
- Download. Download the smaller PDF. Nothing is uploaded.
Want more detail? Read our full guide: How to compress a PDF.
Why compress a PDF?
Oversized PDFs get in the way constantly. They bounce off email attachment limits, crawl when uploaded to a portal, and pile up in shared drives faster than anyone expects. The worst offenders are almost always scans and image-heavy files, where the bulk of the size is pictures rather than text. Compressing brings that weight down so the document is quick to send and cheap to store.
It is worth understanding exactly how this compressor works, because the method shapes when to use it. Each page is re-rendered as an optimized JPEG and the PDF is rebuilt from those images. That is extremely effective on scanned paperwork and photo-laden documents, and you can dial the balance with the level control: Light preserves the most detail, while Strong squeezes hardest for the smallest file.
The honest trade-off is that turning pages into images means the text on them is no longer real text: after compressing, you can't select, copy, or search it, and this is not lossless compression, so it isn't the right choice for a document whose text has to stay live. It also won't help every file: something that is already small or already well-compressed may not shrink further, and in that case the tool tells you rather than handing back a copy that's no better. For text-based bloat, the Optimize tool is the lossless alternative to try first.
Everything runs on your own device, up to one hundred pages at a time since the rendering uses your browser's memory. Your PDF is never uploaded (the images are generated and repackaged locally) which is what lets you compress a scanned contract or a folder of receipts without any of it leaving your machine.
Frequently asked questions
Are my files uploaded?
No. Compression happens entirely in your browser. Your PDF never leaves your device.
How does this compressor work?
It re-renders each page as an optimized JPEG image and rebuilds the PDF from those images. This is very effective for scanned documents and image-heavy files.
Will my text still be selectable after compressing?
No. Because pages are converted to images, the text is no longer selectable or searchable. If you need to keep selectable text, this image-based method isn't the right tool. We plan to add a text-preserving server-side compressor in the future.
Why didn't my file get smaller?
PDFs that are already small or already well-compressed may not shrink further with an image-based method. If we can't actually reduce the size, we'll tell you rather than hand back a larger file.
Is there a page limit?
Up to 100 pages, since all the work happens on your device's memory.