How do I compress a PDF to 500 KB?

Drop the PDF onto the compressor above. The 500 KB target is already set, so just click Compress and download the result.

Will the file be exactly 500 KB?

It aims to land at or just under 500 KB. 500 KB here means 500,000 bytes, so it also fits sites that count 1 KB as 1,024 bytes.

How much quality will I lose at 500 KB?

A text-based résumé usually fits easily; 500 KB also leaves room for a headshot or a few scanned pages. That's about 50 KB per page for a 10-page document (text pages fine, scans get blurry). Text stays selectable at any size; it's the scans and photos that get downsampled.

My PDF is already smaller than 500 KB. What now?

Then it already fits, and compressing it further would only cost quality. Upload it as it is, or pick a smaller target if you need it smaller still.

What if my PDF can't get down to 500 KB?

Long scanned PDFs may not reach 500 KB while staying readable. Split the PDF into parts, or pick a larger size.

What is 500 KB typically needed for?

Common reasons: résumés with a photo, icons or graphics; cover letters and reference letters; multi-page forms after scanning. Limits vary by site, so check the exact number where you're uploading.

Yes. It's processed in an isolated cloud sandbox for your job only and deleted automatically afterwards.

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 to 500 KB

Shrink a PDF to 500 KB or less for résumés, cover letters and 500 KB upload limits. Free, processed in an isolated sandbox and deleted automatically.

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

How to compress a PDF to 500 KB

1
Add your PDF
Drop one or more PDF files onto the compressor above, paste them, or click to browse.
2
500 KB is preset
The target is already set to 500 KB, and each file is compressed to land at or just under it. You can switch to another size or a percentage to reduce by.
3
Compress
Click Compress. The PDF is processed in an isolated cloud sandbox and deleted afterwards.
4
Check and download
Check the new size, then download each file or all of them as a ZIP.

What fits in 500 KB

Spread across the pages, 500 KB gives each page this much room. Text costs very little; scans and photos cost the most.

Pages	Budget per page	What survives
1 page	500 KB	Photos and scans stay sharp
5 pages	100 KB	Scans readable, photos softened
10 pages	50 KB	Text pages fine, scans get blurry
25 pages	20 KB	Text-only pages only
100 pages	5 KB	Too tight: split the PDF

Rough guide. Text-only pages are often just a few KB each; a scanned page is mostly image data.

What 500 KB is typically for

Résumés with a photo, icons or graphics
Cover letters and reference letters
Multi-page forms after scanning

Limits vary by site and change over time; check the exact number where you're uploading.

How PDF gets smaller

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

Compress PDF by quality level instead →

Neighbouring sizes

Or compress PDF by level and set any size or percentage yourself.

Compress other documents

All documents →

PDF to 500 KB: frequently asked questions

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PDF to 500 KB, done.

Drop the file, keep the preset, download the result. No sign-up, no watermark.

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