How do I reduce the file size of a PDF?

Upload your PDF, choose a compression level (Strong, Balanced, or Light), and click Compress. The tool re-renders each page as a compressed JPEG image and rebuilds the PDF. Download the result when done.

Will compressing a PDF reduce quality?

Yes, some quality reduction occurs because browser compression re-renders pages as JPEG images. The Balanced level produces good quality for most uses. Use Light compression if you need to preserve maximum detail.

Why is my PDF still large after compression?

Browser-based compression works by re-rendering pages as JPEG images. If your PDF is already image-heavy, it compresses well. Text-only PDFs may show minimal size reduction because text data compresses differently.

What compression level should I use?

Balanced is recommended for most uses — it provides significant size reduction while maintaining readable quality. Use Strong for maximum size reduction when quality is less critical (e.g. email attachments). Use Light when you need near-original visual quality.

Compress PDF

Reduce your PDF file size in seconds. Choose your compression level and download a smaller file instantly.

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Accepts: PDF

document.pdf

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ℹ️ Browser compression re-renders pages as images. Effective for image-heavy PDFs. Text-only PDFs may see minimal reduction.

Choose compression level

🗜️

Strong

Smallest file — good for email

Up to 80% smaller

⚖️

Balanced

Recommended for most uses

Up to 60% smaller

🔍

Light

Near-original quality

Up to 30% smaller

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Rendering pages...

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Your compressed PDF is ready!

⚠️

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How to compress a PDF file

Upload your PDF by clicking the area above or dragging the file onto it.
Choose your compression level: Strong (smallest), Balanced (recommended), or Light (best quality).
Click Compress PDF and wait while each page is processed.
The results show your original and new file size. Click Download to save the compressed PDF.

All processing happens in your browser. Your PDF is never uploaded to any server.

Why is my PDF so large?

PDFs grow large when they contain high-resolution images, embedded fonts, complex graphics, or many pages. A 10-page PDF with scanned photos can easily reach 20MB or more. Browser-based compression reduces size by re-rendering pages at a lower image resolution and JPEG quality. This works best for PDFs that contain images. Text-only documents are already very efficient and may not compress much further.

Frequently Asked Questions

Upload your PDF, select a compression level, and click Compress. The tool re-renders pages as compressed images and rebuilds the PDF at a smaller size.

Some quality reduction occurs as pages are re-rendered as JPEG images. Balanced gives good quality for most uses. Use Light if preserving maximum detail is important.

Text-only PDFs may show minimal reduction because text data is already compact. This method works best on image-heavy PDFs and scanned documents.

Balanced is recommended for most uses. Use Strong for maximum size reduction when file size is critical. Use Light when you need near-original visual quality.