Compress PDF
Shrink a PDF for email or upload. Pick a compression level and see the before/after size.
Quick answer: Shrink a PDF for email or upload. Pick a compression level and see the before/after size.
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Frequently asked questions
- How do I compress a PDF file?
- Drop the PDF, pick Low / Medium / High compression, and click Compress. We show you the before-and-after size so you can confirm the reduction before downloading.
- Will compressing reduce PDF quality?
- Text and vector graphics stay sharp because they're not rasterised. Embedded images are kept as-is by this tool — for heavy image-based PDFs, also try our image compressor on the source images.
- How can I compress a PDF for email?
- Most email providers accept attachments up to about 25 MB. Pick High compression first; if it's still too large, split the PDF and send it in two emails.
- Why is my PDF still large after compression?
- PDFs that already have compressed images or have been optimised before may shrink very little. The biggest savings come from PDFs that include embedded fonts, unused objects or uncompressed streams.
- Can I compress a scanned PDF?
- Scanned PDFs are essentially images. They compress modestly here — for big savings on scans, lower the resolution of the original scan or run the images through our image compressor first.
- What compression level should I choose?
- Start with Medium. Use Low when quality is paramount; use High to squeeze the smallest possible size out of a sharable PDF.
- Is PDF compression safe?
- Yes. Your PDF never leaves your device, so even confidential or legal documents are safe to compress here.
- Can I compress PDFs on Mac/Windows?
- Yes. The tool runs in any modern browser on macOS, Windows or Linux.
- Can I compress PDFs on my phone?
- Yes. Drop a PDF from your phone's Files app and download the compressed result. Works on iPhone and Android.
- How do I reduce PDF size without losing readability?
- Pick Medium compression — it removes structural overhead and unused objects without rasterising text, so readability is identical to the original.