PDF Compression

Reduce PDF file size in your browser

Supports PDFs up to 2,000 pages (files up to 700 MB). Compression runs in the background — this tab stays responsive.

Click or drop a PDF here

About PDF Compress

PDF Compress rewrites your PDF's internal structure entirely in your browser using the pdf-lib library, condensing its objects into compact object streams — your file is never uploaded to a server. Compression runs in a background Web Worker so the page stays responsive. It does not re-encode or downsample images, so savings are typically modest and depend heavily on the source file.

How to use PDF Compress

  1. 1Click the upload area and select a PDF file from your device.
  2. 2Click 'Compress PDF' to rewrite the file's internal structure.
  3. 3Review the before/after size and percentage saved.
  4. 4Click 'Download' to save the compressed PDF.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PDF Compress free to use?

Yes, it's completely free with no signup required.

How much can I reduce my PDF's file size?

It varies widely. PDFs with many pages, fonts, or objects tend to benefit most from the streamlined internal structure; already-optimized or small PDFs may shrink only slightly.

Does it reduce image quality?

No — images are left untouched rather than re-encoded, so visual quality is unaffected. That also means it won't meaningfully shrink files whose size mostly comes from large embedded images.

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

No. Compression happens entirely in your browser using the pdf-lib library, in a background Web Worker.

Is there a page or file-size limit?

Yes: up to 2,000 pages and 700 MB on desktop (300 pages / 100 MB on phones and tablets) -- measured limits to keep compression reliable in the browser tab rather than risking a crash on an extremely large PDF.

Tips & Tricks

  • Works best on PDFs with many pages, embedded fonts, or form fields, where restructuring internal objects saves the most space.
  • Won't meaningfully shrink scanned or image-heavy PDFs, since embedded images aren't recompressed.
  • Check the before/after sizes shown after compressing — if savings are minimal, your file is likely already well-optimized.
  • For a PDF over the size or page limit, split it first with our PDF Split tool, then compress each piece.