Will the text still be selectable afterwards?

No. Compression re-renders each page as an image, which is what produces the size reduction, so the result is visually identical but no longer searchable. Keep the original if you need the text layer.

Which quality level should I choose?

Medium for anything being read on screen, high when the document will be printed, low only when you are up against a hard upload limit and legibility is all that matters.

CompressaPDFtoasmallersize

Portal upload capped at 2 MB? Pick a quality level and this rebuilds every page as an optimised image, which is what makes scanned documents and image-heavy decks drop so sharply.

or drop it here — nothing is uploaded

How it works

01Add the PDF that is too large.
02Choose a quality level — medium is the usual sweet spot for scans.
03Compress and download the smaller file.

This tool runs entirely on your device. Your file is never sent to a server — disconnect from the internet and it still works.

Questions people ask

Scanned and image-heavy documents typically drop by 60–90%. A PDF that is only text is already efficient, so expect a modest saving there — and in that case try greyscale instead.

The guide · 6 min

How to compress a PDF to fit an email limit

Flatten PDFFreeze forms, layers and annotations into the page.

PDF to JPGTurn every page of a PDF into a JPG image.

Merge PDFCombine any number of PDFs into one file, in the order you choose.

Compress PDF, free — and free of the usual catch Compress PDF, with nothing to sign up to Compress PDF without uploading anything Choosing a compress pdf tool Compress a PDF to 100 KB Compress a PDF to 500 KB Compress a PDF to 1 MB Compress a PDF to an email attachment limit