Compress PDF – Make Scanned PDFs Smaller
Shrink large scanned or photo-heavy PDFs so they fit email and upload limits. Choose how strong, and see the size before you download.
- Free, no signup
- Files stay on your device
- No watermark
See it in action
A two-page scanned PDF, too big for an email attachment.
- 91% smaller
- 3.3 MB → 314 KB
- Balanced setting
Balanced setting. Pages are rebuilt as optimised images, which is ideal for scans.
Diagram of a real run of this tool: file names, page counts and sizes measured on 16 October 2026.
How to use it
- Drop your PDF in, or choose it.
- Pick Strong, Balanced or Light compression.
- Press Compress PDF, check the new size, and download.
What Compress PDF does
Re-renders each page as an optimised JPEG image and builds a new PDF at the same page size. Scans and photos shrink a lot. Text becomes part of the image, so it can no longer be selected or searched.
When to use it
- A scanned document is too big for an email attachment or an application portal.
- A PDF full of photos needs to be smaller to share.
- A portal sets a maximum PDF size, such as 1 MB or 2 MB.
Good to know
- Strong ≈ 100 DPI, Balanced ≈ 144 DPI, Light ≈ 200 DPI. Balanced keeps printed text readable for most forms.
- Text-only PDFs (from Word, for example) are usually already small, and this method may make them bigger. If so, we tell you and you keep the original.
- Links, form fields and selectable text are not kept in the compressed copy. Keep your original as well.
Why text becomes an image
Truly re-compressing every kind of content inside a PDF needs desktop software. Re-rendering pages as images works on any device without uploading, and it is exactly what scanned documents need, since their pages are images already.
Privacy
Your PDFs are opened and rebuilt inside your browser. They are never uploaded, which matters for contracts, IDs, bank statements and medical records. Closing the page clears everything.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Compression runs in your browser.
Why can’t I select text in the compressed PDF?
Each page is rebuilt as an image to make it smaller. Keep the original if you need selectable text.
Why did my PDF get bigger?
PDFs made from text are already compact. Turning their pages into images adds size, so in that case keep the original.
Which level should I choose?
Balanced for forms and documents, Strong when you must hit a small limit, Light when the PDF will be printed.