JPG ConverterCompress PDF
Shrink a large PDF to fit an upload limit — you choose how much quality to trade. Everything runs in your browser.
Drop your PDF here
or tap to choose — one .pdf file
How to compress a PDF
- Drop your PDF in, or tap to choose it. The size and page count appear straight away.
- Pick a level: Light keeps the text selectable, while Strong and Maximum rebuild each page as an image and shrink scanned files the most.
- Press Compress. You will see the original size, the new size and the percentage saved.
- Download the smaller PDF - or keep the original if the saving was not worth it.
The whole job runs inside your browser with JavaScript, so your PDF is never uploaded to a server. Nothing is stored, there is no watermark and no sign-up.
Make a large PDF smaller
Email attachments, government portals and job application forms almost always cap the file size — often at 2 MB or even 500 KB. A scanned document breezes past that limit easily, because every page is a full-resolution photograph. This compressor shrinks the file on your own device and shows you exactly what you saved before you download anything.
Which level should you pick?
| Level | What it does | Text stays selectable |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Re-saves the PDF structure without touching the pages | Yes |
| Strong | Rebuilds each page as a good-quality image | No |
| Maximum | Rebuilds each page as a smaller, lower-quality image | No |
For a scanned document — an Aadhaar copy, a marksheet, a signed form — Strong is usually the right answer and often cuts the size by 70–90% while staying perfectly readable. For a PDF you exported from Word, where the text is real text, use Light: the file is already compact, and rebuilding the pages as images would make it worse and kill the ability to search or copy the text.
Honest about the limits
A browser cannot re-encode the individual images and fonts inside a PDF the way a desktop program can, so Light produces only a small saving. Strong and Maximum get their big reduction by turning pages into pictures — a genuine trade-off, not a magic trick. If the result comes out larger than the original, the tool says so plainly and you can simply keep your original file. Need fewer pages instead of smaller ones? Split PDF lets you keep only what matters.
Frequently asked questions
Is this PDF compressor free?
Yes - completely free, with no watermark, no file limit from us and no sign-up.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. Compression happens on your own device with JavaScript, so the file is never uploaded, stored or seen by anyone else.
How much smaller will my PDF get?
Scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs often drop by 60-90% on the Strong setting. A PDF that is mostly text is already small and may shrink very little.
What is the difference between Light, Strong and Maximum?
Light re-saves the file structure and keeps the text selectable, so the saving is modest. Strong and Maximum rebuild every page as an image at a lower quality - much smaller, but the text becomes part of the picture.
Will the text still be selectable and searchable?
On Light, yes. On Strong and Maximum the pages become images, so text cannot be selected or searched. Use Light when that matters.
My PDF got bigger instead of smaller. Why?
That happens when the PDF is already well compressed - rebuilding pages as images can add data rather than remove it. The tool tells you when this happens so you can keep the original.
Does it work on Android and iPhone?
Yes, in any modern mobile browser. Very large PDFs are more comfortable on a computer because everything is processed in memory.
Can it compress password-protected PDFs?
No. Unlock the file in a PDF reader first, then compress the unlocked copy.
How do I make a PDF smaller without losing text?
Choose the Light level. If that is not enough, split out only the pages you need with our Split PDF tool.