Compress PDF Online
Compress PDF files in your browser without blurring the text. Check the expected size first, set a target size and compress many PDFs at once.
- Free, no sign-up
- Files stay on your device
- No watermark
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Compress PDF in 3 steps
Upload one or more PDFs. They stay on your device.
Pick Recommended, Extreme, Light or an exact target size, with real size estimates.
Compress and download the smaller PDF, or a ZIP for several files.
Smaller PDFs that still look sharp
Text and vectors stay sharp
Only the pictures inside the PDF are recompressed and resized. Text, fonts, links and drawings are kept as they are, so the result stays searchable and crisp at any zoom.
Real size estimates and target size
Before you compress, we test-compress a sample of your images and show the expected size for every level. Need it under 2 MB for an upload form? Type the size and we aim for it, then check the real result.
Batch compression
Drop several PDFs at once. Each one is compressed in turn, you see the saving for every file and can download them one by one or as a ZIP.
Private by design
Compression runs in your browser. Files are never uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark. For a single PDF, a before and after preview of page 1 lets you check the quality first.
How to compress PDF files without losing text quality
Most of the weight of a PDF usually comes from photos and scans. BestConverter looks inside the file, finds the JPEG pictures and the 8-bit RGB or grayscale images, and saves them again as JPEG at a quality and resolution that suit the level you pick. Pictures larger than the page needs are scaled down to a sensible resolution. Text, fonts and vector drawings are left untouched in this standard mode, so the compressed PDF stays sharp and searchable.
The tool also removes things you cannot see: embedded page thumbnails, duplicate copies of the same image or font, objects that nothing uses any more, and, if you leave the option on, the document metadata and private editing data some apps store. The file is then saved with compressed object streams. Before you get the result, it is opened again to check that every page is still there; if anything looks wrong, you get your original file instead.
Which compression level should I choose?
- Recommended: the best balance for email and sharing, about 130 DPI images with good quality.
- Extreme: the smallest file, about 72 DPI images. Good for screens, less suited to printing photos.
- Light: near-original image quality with smaller savings, good for printing.
- Target size: for upload forms with a size limit. You set the size, we find the strength.
Under More options you can also turn colour pictures into grayscale for extra savings when colour is not needed.
Scanned documents
A scanned PDF is one big image per page. When those pages are stored as JPEG or plain colour or grey images, the settings above usually shrink it well. When a target size still cannot be met, the Maximum method renders every page as a compressed image, which can make scans much smaller at the cost of selectable text.
Limits
Images in CMYK, indexed colour, JPEG 2000 or JBIG2, and images drawn inline in page content, are left as they are. They are still part of the file, so very print-oriented PDFs may shrink less than photo-heavy ones.
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Frequently asked questions
Does compressing a PDF make the text blurry?
No. In the normal mode only images are recompressed. Text and vector graphics are copied unchanged, so they stay selectable and sharp. Only the optional Maximum method, offered when a target size cannot be reached otherwise, turns pages into images.
How do I compress a PDF to 1 MB or another exact size?
Choose Target size, move the slider or type the size in KB or MB. We choose the strength from the estimate, check the real result and run up to four passes. If a single PDF still cannot reach the size with text kept, we tell you and offer the Maximum method.
How accurate is the estimated size?
The estimate comes from really compressing a sample of the images in your PDF with each setting, plus the exact size of everything else. It is usually close; the final size is shown after compressing.
Why did my PDF not get smaller?
PDFs that contain mostly text, or images that are already well compressed, have little to remove. We never give you a larger file: if compressing does not help, you get the original back with a clear message.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Yes. If the PDF needs a password to open, type it in; files with only editing restrictions need none. Protected PDFs are compressed by turning each page into an image, so they look the same but the text is no longer selectable, and the password never leaves your device.
Is it safe to compress PDFs online here?
Yes. The PDF is processed by your own browser and is never uploaded to a server. There is no fixed size or file count limit; the practical limit is your device memory, so phones may struggle with very large files.