Will my text stay searchable?
Yes. Text is not touched during compression.
Compress PDF
Reduce PDF size for faster sharing.
Downsample scanned pages, reduce image quality, strip metadata, and rebuild optimized PDFs with real before/after sizes.
This file never leaves your device
Processing happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, nothing is sent to us. Close the tab and it's gone.
Check for yourself — open DevTools, go to the Network tab, and run the tool. You'll see no upload.
Compression level
Result preview
Choose a PDF to see compression results.
Action panel
Medium is recommended. Use High for scanned PDFs that need a much smaller size.
Free for everyone, no login required.
Processed entirely in your browser. Your file is never uploaded.
Premium adds saved history and an ad-free workspace.
What this tool does
Compress PDF reduces document size by re-rendering pages at a sensible resolution and re-encoding them efficiently, then rebuilding the PDF structure so files are easier to upload, email, and archive. Like every other tool on this site, compression runs entirely in your browser — your file is never uploaded. Scanned pages that are effectively black-and-white are detected automatically and encoded as true 1-bit images, which is dramatically smaller than treating a scan like a color photo. Pages with real color or photographic content are re-encoded as JPEG instead.
When to use Compress PDF
- • Scanned documents typically see large reductions, often between 60% and 90%. This is where compression earns its keep.
- • Text-based PDFs see minor reductions, sometimes almost none. There is very little to remove.
- • Mixed documents land somewhere between, driven by how much of the page area is images.
Why it is useful
- • Smaller files send faster and download faster on phones.
- • It reduces failed sends caused by oversized attachments.
- • It is practical for receipts, statements, and signed forms on the go.
How to use Compress PDF
- 1. Upload one PDF file.
- 2. Choose the compression setting that matches your document.
- 3. Compression runs in your browser — watch the progress bar.
- 4. Download the optimized file and review the output before sending it.
Privacy and safety note
Compression works by rendering each page at a lower resolution, encoding black-and-white scan pages as true 1-bit images and color/photo pages as JPEG, and removing redundant embedded resources and unused objects. Text is left alone: it is already small, and re-encoding it would break searchability. Everything happens on your device — nothing is ever uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
Can I compress to a specific target size?
Not directly. Compression is quality-driven rather than size-driven, so results depend on your file's content.
Why did my file barely shrink?
It was most likely already efficient — either text-based, or previously compressed.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression runs entirely in your browser. Verify it yourself in the Network tab of your browser's developer tools.