How to compress a PDF to 5 MB
- 1
Add your PDF
Drop one or more PDF files onto the compressor above, paste them, or click to browse.
- 2
5 MB is preset
The target is already set to 5 MB, 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 5 MB
Spread across the pages, 5 MB gives each page this much room. Text costs very little; scans and photos cost the most.
| Pages | Budget per page | What survives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 page | 5 MB | Photos and scans stay sharp |
| 5 pages | 1 MB | Photos and scans stay sharp |
| 10 pages | 500 KB | Photos and scans stay sharp |
| 25 pages | 200 KB | Scans at good resolution |
| 100 pages | 50 KB | Text pages fine, scans get blurry |
Rough guide. Text-only pages are often just a few KB each; a scanned page is mostly image data.
What 5 MB is typically for
- Attaching big PDFs to an email comfortably
- Brochures and slide decks exported to PDF
- Upload forms with a 5 MB cap
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
- 1 MBPDF to 1 MBJob portals & applications
- 2 MBPDF to 2 MBPortfolios & reports
- 5 MBPDF to 5 MBYou're here
- 10 MBPDF to 10 MBLarge documents, emailable
Or compress PDF by level and set any size or percentage yourself.
PDF to 5 MB: frequently asked questions
PDF to 5 MB, done.
Drop the file, keep the preset, download the result. No sign-up, no watermark.
- Most conversions never leave your device
- Cloud files deleted automatically
- No watermarks