Compress PDF files until they are small enough for email, WhatsApp and government portals. Choose a target size and the tool finds the best quality that fits, or use lossless mode to shrink the file without changing a single letter. Need several files in one? Merge PDF documents first, then protect PDF copies with a password.
How to compress PDF
- Choose “To a size” and pick a limit (50 KB to 1 MB or your own), or choose “Lossless”.
- Select your PDF. Large files with 100+ pages are fine; they are processed one page at a time.
- Tap “Compress” to reduce PDF size. You will see the progress for each page.
- Check the new size and the note under it, then download the compressed PDF.
Lossless vs. target size
| Lossless | Removes hidden data and unused objects; text stays selectable; saving depends on the file |
|---|---|
| Target size | Tries lossless first; if still too big, saves pages as compressed images at the best quality that fits |
| Page size | Always kept the same as the original (A4 stays A4) |
| Counting | 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, so the file also passes portals that count 1,024 |
Frequently asked questions
Why is my PDF so big?
Usually because of scanned pages or phone photos saved at full camera resolution, often 2–5 MB per page. Text-only PDFs are small. Fonts embedded in full and leftover editing data can also add size. Lossless mode removes the leftovers, and target mode re-saves the page images at a sensible resolution.
Will I still be able to select and search the text?
In lossless mode, yes. In target-size mode, only if the lossless clean-up was already enough. Otherwise each page is saved as an image, which looks the same but whose text can no longer be selected, copied or searched. The result always tells you which method was used.
How small can a PDF get?
It depends on the number of pages. One or two pages fit comfortably in 50–100 KB and stay readable. A 20-page scan needs more like 500 KB to 1 MB. If you ask for too little, the tool tells you instead of producing an unreadable file. Split the PDF first if a portal wants one file per document.
Is it safe to compress confidential PDFs here?
Yes. The PDF is opened and compressed inside your browser and never uploaded to any server. You can even load the page, switch off mobile data and it will still work.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. Remove the password first with Unlock PDF (you need to know it), compress, and add a password again with Protect PDF if needed.
Why did lossless mode not reduce the size?
Some PDFs, especially those from good scanners or exported by modern software, are already packed efficiently. Lossless mode cannot reduce the images inside them. Use a target size instead to resize those images.
Step-by-step guide: How to Reduce PDF Size for Online Form Uploads
Related tools
- Compress PDF to 100KBShrink a PDF to under 100KB for online forms.
- Compress PDF to 200KBShrink a PDF to under 200KB for uploads.
- Merge PDFCombine several PDF files into one, in any order.
- Split PDFSplit a PDF by page ranges, every N pages, or extract pages.
- JPG to PDFTurn photos and scans into one PDF, A4 or image size.
- Compress Documents for Online FormShrink certificates and ID scans under 100–500 KB as JPG or one PDF.