Compress PDF

Your file stays on your device — nothing is uploaded.

How it works

Compress PDF makes a heavy document light enough to email or upload. Each page is re-rendered and its images are re-encoded at a lower resolution and quality, then a new, smaller PDF is built — which is why scanned documents and photo-heavy pages shrink dramatically, while files that are mostly text or vector graphics are already compact and gain little. One trade-off worth knowing: because pages become images, text may no longer be selectable or searchable afterwards, especially at the Strong level. If a file would not get meaningfully smaller, your original is kept untouched so it never comes back larger. Compression runs entirely in your browser and the file is never uploaded.

  1. Drop a PDF onto the page. A password-protected file has to be unlocked first — the Unlock PDF tool does that in one step.
  2. Choose a level: “Light” for the best quality and modest savings, “Recommended” for a balance that suits most documents, “Strong” for the smallest file when size matters more than fidelity.
  3. Press “Compress PDF” and let it work through the document.
  4. Check the result line — it shows the original and new size plus the percentage saved. If the PDF was already optimised, you will be told so and the original is returned.
  5. Download the compressed file. To try another level, press “Compress another PDF” and add the file again.