Compress PDF
Make your PDF smaller. Three approaches — pick the one that fits your file:
Drop a file here
or
Choose filesPDF files only
Reduce a PDF's file size. Three approaches with different trade-offs — which one fits depends on whether your PDF is text-heavy or image-heavy.
How to
- 1
Upload PDF
Any size.
- 2
Choose mode
"Clean up metadata only" for text-heavy PDFs, no quality loss. "Compress images in PDF" for noticeably smaller files with slightly softer images. "Maximum shrinkage (server)" for the smallest file via Ghostscript.
- 3
Set strength (mode 2 + 3 only)
In mode 2, choose between "Smallest possible", "Balanced" and "Prefer quality". In mode 3, between screen, e-book and print quality.
- 4
Compress
You get the smaller file. If no shrinkage was possible, the tool keeps the original and shows a notice.
Tips
- For pure text-heavy PDFs, only "Clean up metadata only" is worthwhile — the other modes cost image quality without saving more.
- For scans or image-heavy PDFs, "Maximum shrinkage (server)" with screen or e-book quality typically cuts 70-90 %.
- "Compress images in PDF" is the sweet spot if you don't want to upload your file to our server.
Privacy and limits
Modes 1 and 2 run 100 % in your browser — your file never leaves your device. Mode 3 (server) sends the file encrypted, processes it immediately, and deletes it right after.