PDFDrawerCompress PDF — make a PDF smaller
To compress a PDF, drop it above and pick a level — for example, a 12 MB scanned contract at the Balanced level typically lands near 2–4 MB, small enough for email, while a text-based PDF that is already lean will barely change; the tool always shows you the before and after sizes before you download.
Honest note: this tool rebuilds each page as an optimized image. Text will look identical on screen but is no longer selectable, and links stop working. For documents you need to keep fully editable, keep the original as your archive copy.
🔒 Your files never leave your device. This tool runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded to a server, so the document you open is the only copy that ever exists.
How it works
- Drop the PDF you want to shrink.
- Pick a level: Smallest for hard email limits, Balanced for everyday use, Quality first for print.
- Click Compress PDF, compare the before/after sizes, and download.
About this tool
PDFs get fat for one main reason: images. A single scanned page can carry a multi-megabyte photograph of a sheet of paper, and a twenty-page scan sails past the 10 or 25 MB limits that email and upload forms impose. This compressor attacks exactly that weight: it renders each page at a resolution matched to its destination — screen, reading, or print — and re-encodes it as an efficient JPEG inside a fresh PDF. Scanned documents routinely shrink by 60–90%, which is the difference between an attachment that bounces and one that sends.
The honesty matters, so here it is plainly: rebuilding pages as images means the output's text is no longer selectable and links no longer click. For a scan, nothing is lost — a scan's text was never selectable to begin with. For a born-digital document, keep your original as the archive and treat the compressed copy as the sending copy. What this tool will never do is pretend otherwise, or quietly degrade a file you needed intact.
Everything happens on your device, which makes this compressor a safe choice for exactly the documents that most need shrinking before they travel — statements, contracts, application packs. If the file is fat mainly because it carries pages nobody needs, Delete Pages first can shrink it with zero quality change; compress afterwards if it is still over the limit.
Frequently asked questions
How much smaller will my PDF get?
Scanned PDFs usually shrink 60–90% at the Balanced level. PDFs that are already mostly text may barely change — the tool shows both sizes so you can decide before downloading.
Will the text still be selectable afterwards?
No. Pages are rebuilt as optimized images, so text looks the same but can't be selected or searched. Keep the original when that matters.
Which level should I choose?
Balanced suits most sharing. Choose Smallest when a form or mailbox has a hard limit, and Quality first when the file will be printed.
Is there a file size limit?
No upload limit exists because nothing is uploaded. Very large PDFs (hundreds of pages) are limited by your device's memory and will take longer to process.
Why didn't my PDF get smaller?
Some PDFs are already efficiently encoded — typically text documents exported from Word or a browser. There is little left to squeeze, and the tool tells you honestly rather than handing back a worse file.