Free tool
Compress a PDF.
Shrink the file in this browser tab. Pages may be redrawn as pictures, so text may not stay selectable. If the result is not smaller, you are told so — the tool will not hand you a worse file. No signup.
1 Choose the PDF
2 How small
Choose a PDF first. How small is named here before anything is redrawn, so the download is the file this step describes.
3 Compress
Choose a PDF to start.
Your file stays on your device
Pages are redrawn in this tab. The PDF is not sent to a server, nothing is stored, and there is no account to create. Closing the tab is all the cleanup there is.
How to use it
- Drop in a PDF, or choose one from your device. The tool reads the page count straight away (up to 80 pages, 50 MB).
- Pick Balanced or Smaller file. The preview line names the file it is about to write and reminds you that pages become pictures.
- Press Compress PDF. If the new file is not smaller than the original, the tool says so and does not offer a download.
What you get, and what you do not
You get a smaller PDF when redrawing the pages as JPEG actually shrinks it. You do not get a guaranteed percentage, a quality slider, or a promise that the text layer survives. Password-protected PDFs cannot be compressed.
Related guides and tools
PDF to JPG saves each page as an image instead of putting those pictures back into a PDF. Split PDF can cut a large file into smaller ones by page range. All the utilities are on the free PDF tools page. If the numbers you actually need are the figures printed on the pages, PDF to Excel puts those into columns you name.
Compress PDF questions
How do I compress a PDF?
Drop a PDF into this page, pick Balanced or Smaller file, then press Compress PDF. The new file is written in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account to create.
Will the text stay selectable?
Often no. Pages are redrawn as pictures so the file can get smaller. You may not be able to search, select or copy text in the result. If you need the original text layer, keep the original file.
What if the compressed file is not smaller?
The tool does not offer it. A PDF that is already mostly text, or already compressed, often will not shrink this way. You see that as a message instead of a download.
Does the PDF leave this browser?
No. Pages are drawn in this tab. Font and encoding tables may download from this site when a document needs them; your document does not travel.
Shrinking a stack of invoices so you can type them into a spreadsheet?
Compressing makes the file smaller. It does not pull out the supplier, the date or the total. That is the part ExtractToExcel does: you name the columns you want, and each PDF comes back as a row in an Excel workbook.
Extract PDFs to Excel