How do I compress a PDF file?

Drop the PDF onto the compressor above, keep Balanced or pick another level, and click Compress. Download the smaller PDF when it's done; it usually takes a few seconds.

Does compressing PDF reduce quality?

A little, by design: PDF is a lossy format. Balanced is tuned to look the same for most uses; choose Light if you want to stay closer to the original.

How much smaller will my PDF get?

Scanned and photo-heavy PDFs often shrink by more than half. Text-only PDFs are already compact and change much less.

Can I compress PDF to a specific size?

Yes. Set a target size in the compressor, or a percentage to reduce by, and the file is compressed to land at or just under it. Common sizes like 100 KB, 200 KB, 300 KB or 500 KB are listed on this page with the target preset.

Is it safe to compress PDF files here?

Yes. Your file travels over an encrypted connection to an isolated sandbox created for your job only, and both the original and the result are deleted automatically.

Is the PDF compressor free?

Yes. Cloud jobs like this one use the same free daily credits as cloud conversions, and there's no watermark.

PDF→smaller PDF→PNG JPG→smaller PDF→JPG PNG→smaller PDF→DOCX MP4→smaller PDF→JPEG MP3→smaller PDF→SVG WebP→smaller PDF→EPUB HEIC→smaller PDF→TXT DOCX→smaller PDF→HTML GIF→smaller PDF→TIFF SVG→smaller PDF→MOBI MOV→smaller PDF→AZW3 AVIF→smaller PDF→RTF M4A→smaller PDF→FB2 PDF→LIT WebM→smaller PDF→PDB PNG→JPG MKV→smaller JPG→PNG PNG→WebP XLSX→smaller JPG→WebP WebP→PNG EPUB→smaller WebP→JPG HEIC→PNG AVI→smaller HEIC→JPG MP4→MP3 FLAC→smaller PNG→JPEG JPG→JPEG PPTX→smaller JPEG→PNG JPEG→JPG AAC→smaller PNG→PDF JPG→PDF ZIP→smaller HEIC→WebP MP4→WebP TIFF→smaller DOCX→PDF JPEG→WebP OGG→smaller WebP→JPEG PNG→GIF Opus→smaller JPG→GIF GIF→PNG 7Z→smaller GIF→JPG MP4→MOV ODT→smaller MOV→MP4 WebP→PDF TAR.GZ→smaller HEIC→JPEG WebP→GIF ODS→smaller GIF→WebP HEIC→PDF ODP→smaller MP3→WAV WAV→MP3 TAR.BZ2→smaller JPEG→PDF SVG→PNG TAR.XZ→smaller SVG→JPG HEIC→GIF MOV→MP3 MP4→GIF GIF→MP4 JPEG→GIF GIF→JPEG PNG→AVIF JPG→AVIF AVIF→PNG AVIF→JPG MP3→M4A M4A→MP3 GIF→PDF SVG→PDF PNG→SVG JPG→SVG SVG→WebP MOV→WebP MP4→WAV MP4→WebM WebM→MP4 WebP→AVIF AVIF→WebP WebP→SVG SVG→JPEG MP4→MKV MKV→MP4 HEIC→AVIF MP4→M4A JPEG→AVIF AVIF→JPEG JPEG→SVG MOV→GIF GIF→MOV WebM→MP3 AVIF→PDF MP3→FLAC FLAC→MP3 MP4→AVI AVI→MP4 MKV→MP3 GIF→AVIF AVIF→GIF SVG→GIF GIF→SVG WebM→WebP MOV→WAV XLSX→PDF CSV→PDF EPUB→PDF MOV→WebM WebM→MOV MKV→WebP PNG→ICO JPG→ICO ICO→PNG ICO→JPG MP3→AAC WAV→M4A AAC→MP3 M4A→WAV MP4→FLAC AVI→MP3 MOV→MKV MKV→MOV MOV→M4A DOCX→EPUB EPUB→DOCX CSV→DOCX DOC→PDF TXT→PDF WebP→ICO ICO→WebP PPTX→PDF AVI→WebP WebM→GIF GIF→WebM

Compress PDF

Make PDF files smaller without visible quality loss. Free, processed in an isolated sandbox and deleted automatically.

Isolated cloud sandbox, auto-deleted
Same format, smaller file
Batch & ZIP download

How to compress PDF

1
Add your PDF files
Drag and drop PDF files onto the compressor, paste them, or click to browse. You can add several at once.
2
Pick a level or a target
Balanced is selected and suits most files. Choose Light to stay closer to the original or Strong for the smallest file, or set a target size or a percentage to reduce by.
3
Compress
Click Compress. Files are processed in an isolated cloud sandbox and are usually ready in seconds.
4
Download
Download each smaller PDF, or everything at once as a ZIP.

What compression does to PDF

LossyCloud sandbox

Downsamples and recompresses images, subsets and compresses fonts, and removes duplicate data.

Light: Gentle: images are recompressed but stay close to the original; good for print.
BalancedDefault: The default: images are optimised for reading on screen, usually with no visible difference.
Strong: Smallest file: images are downsampled further; fine on screen, not for print.

Common sizes

The compressor above takes any target size, or a percentage to reduce by. These pages preset the sizes people ask for most, for upload forms, email and chat limits.

PDF · Portable Document Format

PDF preserves a document's exact layout, fonts and images so it looks identical on every device. It's the standard for sharing and printing documents.

Type: Document
Extension: .pdf
MIME: application/pdf
Best for: contracts, forms, reports, e-books and anything meant to be shared or printed

Open standardMulti-page

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Compress other documents

All documents →

Compressing PDF: frequently asked questions

Free, private and in your browser

Smaller PDF files, in seconds.

No sign-up, no watermark. Files are processed in an isolated sandbox and deleted automatically.

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Most conversions never leave your device
Cloud files deleted automatically
No watermarks