Compress PDF
Shrink a PDF that is too large to email or upload. Re-rendered privately in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
Drop your image here
or click to browse
Processed locally — never uploaded
How to use compress pdf
- 1Add your PDF
Drop the file onto the panel. You will see its size and page count before anything happens to it.
- 2Choose a level
Screen for reading on a display, balanced for a general rule of thumb, print when the document will be physically printed.
- 3Download the smaller file
Original and compressed sizes are compared for you, with a warning if the saving is disappointingly small.
About compress pdf
PDF compressor reduces the size of a document that is too large to email or upload. University portals, visa applications, insurance forms and many government services all impose a size limit, and a PDF exported straight from a phone camera can be many times larger than the limit requires.
A PDF is mostly a container for images. A page scanned at high resolution is really just a large embedded photograph, and that is where the file size lives. Reducing the resolution of those images is what actually shrinks the document. Text-heavy PDFs made in a word processor are a different case entirely: they are mostly vector data that already compresses well, so the saving there will be modest.
The method is always the same and always private. The document is opened on your device and rendered back out at the resolution you choose, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored at any level. Screen gives the smallest file and suits text that will stay on a display. Balanced is the sensible default for documents that are emailed around. Print keeps the embedded images close to their original resolution and is the level to choose when a copy will be physically printed.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. Every compression level runs in your browser, so the file never leaves your device and nothing is stored on any server.
Why did my PDF barely get smaller?
Most likely it is a text PDF built from vector data rather than images, and that kind of file already compresses well. A large saving requires large embedded images, which is exactly what the screen level targets.
Will compressing my PDF reduce text quality?
Each page is re-rendered, so everything on it becomes the page image. Text that was already vector inside the PDF is re-drawn and stays sharp at the printer level. At the screen level it is resampled with the rest of the page, so small text in a dense document can soften - use balanced or print for those.
Is the original file deleted?
The original on your device is never touched. The compressed copy is created in memory and handed straight back to you, so nothing is stored anywhere and there is nothing to delete.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Not reliably. Remove the password first, compress the file, then protect it again afterwards if you need to.
Is there a page limit?
Practical limits come from how much memory your device has while the file is open. Very large, image-heavy documents may be slow or heavy, especially on phones, where a desktop browser is a better choice.
Related tools
Private by design. Your files are processed on this device and are never uploaded to the 1xmobcas.com server. Use compress pdf offline with total confidence.