How to use the Compress PDF
- Choose your PDF (scanned PDFs shrink the most).
- Pick a compression level — “Recommended” suits most uploads.
- Click “Compress PDF”, check the before/after size, and download.
About this tool
How it works, honestly: each page is redrawn as a JPEG image at a lower resolution and the PDF is rebuilt from those images. That is very effective for scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs (often 50–90% smaller), but it also means text becomes part of an image — you can no longer select, search or copy it, and links stop working.
For PDFs that are mostly typed text, this method can make the file bigger. The tool always compares sizes: if the result isn’t smaller, it tells you and gives you back your original file. For text PDFs, try removing pages you don’t need instead.
Frequently asked questions
How can I compress a PDF to under 1 MB or 2 MB?
Start with “Recommended”. If it’s still too big, use “Strong” or tick black & white — scans usually drop well under 1 MB.
Will I still be able to select text?
No. Pages become images, which is why this works best for scanned PDFs that were images anyway.
Why did the tool keep my original file?
Your PDF was already efficient (typically a text PDF), and converting it to images would have made it larger.
Is my document uploaded to compress it?
No. Compression happens entirely in your browser.