Compress PDF Online Free
Make a PDF smaller, best for image-heavy files.
Some PDFs are too big to email or upload. This tool makes a PDF smaller right in your browser, with no upload and no account. It works by re-encoding each page as an image at a lower quality, which shrinks files that are heavy with photos and scans. Pick a quality setting, compress, and compare the old size with the new one before you download. It works best on image-heavy PDFs. Text-only PDFs may barely shrink, and pages become flat images, so text is no longer selectable. Everything happens on your device, so your files never leave your browser.
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About Compress PDF
PDFs get big when they are full of photos, scans, and high-resolution images. This tool shrinks those files by rendering each page and saving it again as a compressed image inside a new PDF. You choose the quality, and the tool shows you the old size and the new size before you download anything. The whole job runs in your browser, so your files never leave your device.
This is a limited compressor, and it is honest about it. It does not remove images, fonts, or pages, and it does not do general recompression of the PDF structure. It works by re-encoding page content as JPEG images, which is why it helps most with image-heavy files. A PDF that is mostly text may barely shrink, and it can even grow, because a picture of a text page is bigger than the text itself. If the result is bigger, the tool tells you, and you can keep the original.
There is one tradeoff to know before you compress. The pages in the new PDF are flat images. Text is no longer selectable or searchable, and links, bookmarks, and form fields do not carry over. For sending, filing, and printing, that rarely matters. For a document you still need to edit or search, keep the original and compress a copy.
How to use Compress PDF
- Add a PDF file with the file picker or drag and drop.
- Pick a quality setting. Lower quality means a smaller file.
- Click Compress PDF and wait for the new size.
- Compare the sizes. Download the smaller file only if it helps.
Why use this tool?
- Shows old size and new size before you download
- Three quality settings, your choice
- Free, no account, no watermark
- Works on scans, photos, and image-heavy PDFs
Tips for best results
- Compress a copy, not your only original.
- Start with Medium quality. Drop to Low only if the file is still too big.
- If the result is bigger than the original, keep the original.
- For text-only PDFs, try deleting pages or images instead.