How this compression works — read before using
This tool compresses by re-rendering each PDF page as an optimized image and rebuilding the document. That achieves dramatic size reductions on scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs — which is what upload portals usually choke on.
The honest trade-off: rebuilt pages are images, so selectable/searchable text becomes non-selectable, exactly like a scan. For a contract that must keep live text, use your PDF editor’s “reduce file size” instead. For getting a scanned certificate under a portal limit — this is the right tool, and it’s private: the file never leaves your browser.
Picking a target that can actually work
PDF size scales with page count — a useful rule of thumb is the per-page budget. A 50 KB target across a 10-page scan leaves 5 KB per page, which no honest tool can deliver legibly; the same target on a single-page certificate is comfortable.
So: single page → any target page works, even 50 KB. A few pages → 200 KB or 500 KB. Long documents → 500 KB and up, or split the document and upload parts if the portal allows it. When a target is impossible for your page count, the tool says so with the smallest achievable size, instead of producing an unreadable file.
Private by architecture, not by promise
Your files are processed entirely on your own device — they are never uploaded to us or anyone else. We couldn’t see them if we wanted to. This website is served from servers in the United States (North Carolina).
Processed on your device
The compression engine is JavaScript running in your browser. There is no upload step in the code — nothing to trust, just how it works.
No signup, no watermark
Every tool is free and works instantly. No account, no email required, no marks on your files.
Honest results
If your target size can’t be reached at acceptable quality, we say so and tell you exactly what to change — not silently degrade your file.
Frequently asked questions
Will my PDF text stay selectable?
No — pages are re-rendered as images (that’s how the big reductions are achieved). Scans and photo PDFs are unaffected in practice since they were images already. PDFs needing live text should use a different method.
Is my PDF uploaded for compression?
No. Reading, rendering, and rebuilding all happen in your browser. Sensitive documents never travel anywhere.
How small can a PDF get?
Scanned pages compress dramatically — often 5–10×. The exact-target pages let you aim at a specific KB limit and tell you honestly if it’s not reachable for your page count.
Does this work for password-protected PDFs?
No — encrypted PDFs can’t be read without the password. Remove the protection first in your PDF viewer (File → Print → Save as PDF usually works), then compress here.