ToolsBench

Compress PDF

Shrink big PDFs by re-encoding their pages as compressed images.

Processed on your device
Your files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.

How do I make a PDF smaller without uploading it?

Open Compress PDF on Tools-Bench, add the file and pick a quality; about 75% suits documents read on screen. Each page is re-encoded as a compressed image inside your browser, so scans often shrink 70–90% and nothing is uploaded. The trade-off is that text in the result is no longer selectable, so keep your original.

About Compress PDF

A 30-page scan can easily weigh 40 MB — too big for most email attachments and many upload forms. This compressor re-renders each page as an efficiently compressed image, which routinely shrinks scanned and image-heavy PDFs by 70–90%. The honest trade-off (which most compressors bury): the output pages are images, so text stops being selectable. For scans that were images anyway, you lose nothing. PDFs that are mostly real text are a different story — they're already small, and this image-based approach can even make them larger, so compress the heavy scans and leave the 200 KB contract alone. The quality slider maps directly to how aggressively each page image is encoded: 75% is the sweet spot for documents that will be read on screen; go higher if the file contains fine print, stamps or signatures you need to stay crisp, lower for drafts where size matters most.

How to use Compress PDF

1
Add a PDF
Best results come from scans and image-heavy documents.
2
Choose a quality
Drag the slider — around 75% keeps things readable while cutting size.
3
Download
Save the smaller PDF. It never left your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything runs inside your browser — your file is read from your device, processed in memory, and never sent to a server.
How do I compress a PDF so it fits in an email?
Most mail services cap attachments at 20–25 MB. Compress at 75%, check the new size on the result screen, and go lower if it's still too big. Scans usually drop well under the limit; if a text-only PDF won't shrink, it's already efficient, so send it as a link instead.
Why is the text no longer selectable?
This compressor rebuilds each page as a compressed image, which is what makes scanned files much smaller. If you need selectable text preserved, keep the original.
How much smaller will my PDF get?
Scans and photo-heavy files typically shrink 70–90%. Text-only PDFs won't improve — they're already efficient, and re-rendering them as images can even grow the file.
Is the compressed file OK to print?
At 75%+ quality it prints fine for everyday documents. For anything with fine print or official stamps, use a higher quality setting and check one page before printing the lot — and always keep your original.

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