Compress PDF
Light mode keeps the text, strong shrinks more, or pick a maximum size. See the before and after, never uploaded.
One PDF up to 50 MB and 500 pages.
Your file never leaves your device: everything happens in the browser, with no upload to any server.
How to compress a PDF in 3 steps
Choose the PDF
Tap Choose PDF and pick the file. The screen shows its size and page count.
Choose the mode
Light keeps the text selectable. Strong turns each page into an image and shrinks more. Maximum size fits the PDF to a limit, like 100 KB.
Compress and download
Tap Compress PDF, check the before and after, and tap Download PDF.
Light or strong
| Light | Strong | |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Stays text: you can select and search it | Becomes an image |
| Links and forms | Keep working | Stop working |
| How much it shrinks | A lot with photos; little with text only | A lot, almost always |
| Good for | Reports, course packs, catalogs | Scanned documents to send, upload forms, chat |
What light mode does: it re-saves the photos (JPG) inside the PDF at up to 2,000 pixels on the long side and 75% quality, and only swaps a photo if it gets at least 10% smaller. It also removes embedded thumbnails and data some programs store that never shows on the page, and losslessly compresses anything that wasn’t compressed.
What strong mode does: it draws each page as an image (120 dpi, JPG at 60%) and builds a new PDF with the same page size. The text stays readable but is no longer text. The screen warns you first, and the warning repeats on the result.
Compress to a specific size
Does the form ask for a limit, like 100 KB or 1 MB? Choose Maximum size and the size, ready-made or typed in. The tool tries light mode first and, if it doesn’t fit, turns the pages into images, lowering the quality step by step until it fits. It never goes below 96 dpi and 40% quality, the floor where text is still readable: if it still doesn’t fit, the screen tells you the smallest size it reached.
Pages with the size already selected:
- compress PDF to 100 KB: the tightest limit, for a one-page document;
- compress PDF to 200 KB: registration forms with one document per field;
- compress PDF to 500 KB: résumés, contracts and papers;
- compress PDF to 1 MB: attachments for portals, email and forms.
Before and after, no surprises
The result shows the original size, the compressed size and how much it shrank. If compressing doesn’t help (it happens with PDFs that were already light), you get your original file back, unchanged, and the screen says so. We never hand you a file larger than yours.
Your file never leaves your device
Compression runs in your browser: the PDF is opened and re-saved in your phone’s or computer’s memory. Nothing is uploaded. You can use it with bank statements, pay stubs, medical reports and ID documents without them touching any server.
Limits
One PDF up to 50 MB. Light mode handles up to 500 pages; strong mode up to 100. Pages are processed one at a time, with a progress bar and a Cancel button, so phones don’t freeze.
More PDF tools
If the file is big because you put many photos together, rebuild it with JPG to PDF, which already shrinks each photo. To send only part of the document, split PDF. To combine several light PDFs into one, merge PDF.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between light and strong?
Light shrinks the photos inside the PDF and removes things you can’t see, and the text stays text: you can still select, copy and search it. Strong turns each page into an image: the file gets much smaller, but the text can no longer be selected.
How much smaller will my PDF get?
It depends on what’s inside. A PDF full of photos usually shrinks a lot in light mode; a scanned document usually shrinks more in strong mode. A text-only PDF exported from Word is already light and shrinks little. The screen shows the size before and after, and by how much.
Why did I get the same file back?
Because compressing didn’t make it smaller. In that case you get the original, unchanged, and the screen tells you. We never hand you a file larger than the one you brought.
Does strong mode delete anything?
What you see on the page stays the same, but it becomes an image: you can’t select the text anymore, and links and form fields stop working. For a document you’ll only send or print, it’s often the best choice.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. Compression happens in your browser, using your device’s memory. The file never leaves your device, and nothing is stored.
How do I get under an email or upload limit?
Choose Maximum size and the limit you were given, like 1 MB: the tool tries light mode and, if it doesn’t fit, shrinks step by step until it does. If even that isn’t enough, split the document into parts with split PDF. The guide how to make a PDF smaller for email walks you through it.
What's the maximum size?
One PDF up to 50 MB. Light mode handles up to 500 pages; strong mode up to 100, because each page becomes an image.
Will a digital signature still be valid?
Don’t count on it. Any change to the file, in either mode, breaks a certificate-based digital signature. If the PDF was signed that way, send the original.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
No. A protected PDF won’t open here, and we don’t try to break the password. See the guide PDF won’t open or is password protected.