Skip to content
FreeToolConvert

PDF Compressor

Reduce PDF file size in your browser. Lossless mode keeps text selectable; image modes shrink scanned and photo-heavy PDFs much further. You always see the size before and after.

In-browser · no upload PDF → PDF

Runs entirely in your browser. Your files and text are not uploaded to our servers.

To compress a PDF, choose the file, select a compression level and select Compress PDF. You’ll see the new size and how much smaller it is before downloading.

Which level should I choose? Use Lossless first — it optimises the file without changing how it looks and keeps text searchable. If you need a much smaller file (for example to meet a 100 KB or 200 KB upload limit) and the PDF is mostly scans or photos, use Balanced, Strong or Extreme.

How to use the PDF Compressor

  1. 1

    Choose your PDF

    Files up to 100 MB.

  2. 2

    Select a level

    Lossless, Balanced, Strong or Extreme.

  3. 3

    Compress

    The result shows the new size and percentage saved.

  4. 4

    Download

    If compression wouldn’t help, the original is kept and we tell you.

How it works

Lossless rewrites the PDF’s internal structure more efficiently (object streams) and removes redundant data. Quality doesn’t change, and savings are usually modest.

Balanced, Strong and Extreme render each page as an image and re-encode it as a compressed JPEG at decreasing resolution and quality. This can shrink scanned documents dramatically, but the text becomes part of the image — it can no longer be selected, searched or copied. For text-only PDFs this can even make the file bigger, in which case the original is kept.

Features

  • Honest before/after sizes

    See exactly how much you saved.

  • Never bigger

    If the result isn’t smaller, you get the original back.

  • Lossless option

    Keeps text, links and quality.

  • Private

    Compression runs on your device.

When to use it

  • Meeting upload limits on government, exam and job portals.
  • Emailing scanned documents under attachment limits.
  • Saving storage space for large archives of scans.

Privacy and file handling

Where it runs
Runs in your browser
File size limit
100 MB per file

Runs entirely in your browser. Your files and text are not uploaded to our servers.

Limitations

  • Image levels make text unselectable and unsearchable.
  • Already-optimised PDFs may not get smaller in lossless mode.
  • Hitting an exact target size isn’t guaranteed; try the next level if the file is still too large.

Troubleshooting

“The original is kept”
The file is already efficient. For scans, try Strong or Extreme.
Text looks blurry after compression
Use a lighter level (Balanced) or Lossless.
Still too large for a portal
Use Extreme, or split the PDF and remove unnecessary pages.

Frequently asked questions

How can I compress a PDF without losing quality?

Use Lossless mode. It reduces size by optimising the file structure only, so text, images and quality stay exactly the same. Savings depend on how the PDF was made.

How do I compress a PDF to 100 KB?

Try Strong or Extreme. These convert pages to compressed images, which works well for scanned forms and ID copies. If it’s still too large, remove pages you don’t need with PDF Splitter.

Why did my PDF not get smaller?

Text-based PDFs are often already compact. Converting them to images would make them larger, so we keep the original.

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. Compression happens entirely in your browser.

Was this tool helpful?

Thanks for the feedback.

Last reviewed