Compress PDF Online Free — Reduce PDF Size Privately

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Compress PDF

Reduce PDF size in your browser

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Drop a PDF here or click to choose

Up to 100 MB · processed locally, never uploaded

How to Compress a PDF

Add your PDF — drag & drop or click to pick the file.
Pick a level — Light keeps text selectable; Strong squeezes scans the hardest.
Click Compress — your smaller PDF downloads instantly, and you see exactly how much you saved.

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100% private

Compression runs entirely in your browser — tax returns, contracts and scans never leave your device.

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Beat upload limits

Get under Gmail's 25 MB cap, IRS & court e-file limits, or a job-portal résumé size in one click.

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No sign-up, no limits

No account, no watermark, no email gate. Compress as many PDFs as you need, free.

About the Free PDF Compressor

Need to reduce PDF file size so a document finally attaches to an email or uploads to a portal? This free PDF compressor shrinks bulky PDFs right on your device — no upload, no account, no watermark. It's built for the everyday American moment when Gmail rejects a 30 MB scan, a court e-filing system caps you at 10 MB, or a job site won't take your résumé packet.

Choose Light compression to losslessly re-pack and clean the file while keeping every word selectable and searchable — perfect for text-heavy contracts, reports and forms. Choose Strong compression to rasterize pages into optimized images at the quality and resolution you pick, which delivers dramatic savings on scanned documents, photo-heavy brochures and slide decks exported to PDF.

Unlike most "free" online compressors that upload your documents to a server, this tool runs 100% in your browser using the open-source pdf-lib and pdf.js engines. Your file is read locally, compressed locally, and downloaded locally — nothing is transmitted, stored, or seen by anyone, which matters when you're handling bank statements, medical records, W-2s or signed agreements. It works on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Chromebook with no software to install.

Need the opposite or a related step? Try our Merge PDF tool to combine files first, Split PDF to pull out just the pages you need, or the Image Resizer to shrink photos before they go into a document.

Compress PDF FAQ

Is it safe to compress a PDF with this tool? ▾

Yes. Compression runs 100% in your browser using the open-source pdf-lib and pdf.js engines — your file is never uploaded, stored or seen by a server, so tax returns, statements and contracts stay private.

What is the difference between Light and Strong compression? ▾

Light losslessly re-packs and cleans the file while keeping all text selectable and crisp — best for text-heavy documents. Strong rasterizes each page into an optimized image at the quality and resolution you choose, giving much bigger savings on scans and image-heavy PDFs.

Will compressing reduce the quality of my PDF? ▾

Light compression keeps quality identical. Strong compression converts pages to images, so very fine text can soften slightly at low quality settings — raise the quality slider or DPI if you need sharper results.

How do I get a PDF under 25 MB for email? ▾

Start with Light; if it is still too big, switch to Strong and lower the resolution to 96 or 120 DPI. The tool shows the before, after and percentage saved so you can confirm it fits Gmail’s 25 MB limit.

Is there a file size limit? ▾

You can compress PDFs up to 100 MB. Because everything runs locally, very large files depend on your device’s memory.

Does it work on iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac? ▾

Yes. It works in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android — no app or software install needed.

Why did my PDF barely get smaller with Light mode? ▾

Light mode only removes redundant data, so an already-optimized or text-only PDF may shrink very little. Switch to Strong compression for image-heavy or scanned files to see a much larger reduction.