Compress PDF — Free Online

Reduce PDF file size online. Free, no sign-up, no watermark — files are deleted immediately after processing.

How to

  1. 1Upload the PDF you want to make smaller.
  2. 2Choose a compression level (low, medium, or high).
  3. 3Click Compress and wait while the file is optimized.
  4. 4Download the smaller PDF. The uploaded file is deleted from our server immediately after processing.

What is PDF compression?

Compression shrinks a PDF's file size by re-encoding the images inside it and stripping out redundant or unused data. The pages look the same, but the file becomes small enough to email, upload to a portal with a size cap, or store without eating disk space.

How compression works here

We run your PDF through Ghostscript, which downsamples and re-compresses embedded images and cleans up the file structure. You pick a level — low keeps the most quality, high shrinks the most — so you can trade size against sharpness depending on whether the file is for screen or print.

When to compress a PDF

Shrink a scanned document that is too big to email, get under the upload limit on a job-application or government form, or reduce a image-heavy brochure before posting it. Compression matters most for PDFs built from photos or scans, which are usually far larger than text-only files.

Compress PDF vs Smallpdf and Adobe

Free online compressors like Smallpdf and iLovePDF often limit free use before asking you to pay, and Adobe's compressor is part of a paid plan. This tool lets you compress PDFs with a choice of levels, no watermark, free. Files up to 50 MB are processed on our server and deleted immediately after.

How Compress PDF compares

ToolFree to useWatermarkSign-up
AnyResourceYesNoneNo
Adobe AcrobatTrialNoneRequired
SmallpdfLimitedNoneSome features
iLovePDFLimitedNoneSome features

Competitor details are general and may change — check each provider for current terms.

FAQ

How much smaller will my PDF get?+

It depends on the file. PDFs full of photos or scans can shrink dramatically; text-only PDFs are already small and change little. Higher compression levels reduce size more at some cost to image sharpness.

Will compression blur my text?+

No. Text stays crisp — compression mainly re-encodes the images inside the PDF. Only image detail is affected, and only at higher levels.

Is there a file-size or daily limit?+

You can compress PDFs up to 50 MB, with no watermark. A per-minute fair-use rate limit applies, but there is no daily quota.

Are my files safe?+

Compression runs on our server in a temporary folder that is deleted immediately after the file is processed. Your PDF is never stored or shared.

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