Guide
How to Compress a PDF File
Reduce PDF size for faster uploads and smaller email attachments while keeping the document readable.
Quick steps
- Open the tool: Compress PDF
- Upload your PDF
- Select Compress PDF
- Download the compressed file
When PDF compression helps the most
- When email attachment limits block sending
- When a website upload limit rejects your PDF
- When you are sending documents over a slow connection
- When storing lots of scanned documents takes too much space
- When you want PDFs to open faster on phones and older laptops
What usually shrinks the most
Scanned PDFs and image heavy documents usually shrink the most because the largest part of the file is embedded images. Text heavy PDFs may only shrink a little because they are already compact.
Tips for best results
- If your PDF is a scan, compression often helps a lot
- If you need perfect photo quality inside a PDF, keep an original copy
- If a single PDF is extremely large, split it first, then compress each part
- If your PDF contains selectable text, compression should keep it selectable
Common questions
Will compression change how the PDF looks
Page order and layout stay the same. Some images may look slightly softer if you zoom in very far, but normal reading stays clear.
Will text still be searchable
If your original PDF has real text, the compressed file should keep it searchable and selectable.
Are files stored permanently
No. Files are kept only long enough to process and provide a download, then removed after a short period per the privacy policy.