Compress a PDF

Compress a PDF to make it smaller without ruining the quality. Upload your file, pick how hard to compress, and download a lighter PDF that is easier to email, upload, or store. Your file is processed on our secure server and deleted right after.

How to compress pdf

1. 1Upload the PDF you want to shrink.
2. 2Choose a compression level (Recommended works for most files).
3. 3We reduce the file size while keeping it readable.
4. 4Download the smaller PDF.

When to use this tool

• An email attachment limit is rejecting your PDF because it's too large.
• A portal caps upload size and your scanned document or report is over the limit.
• You're archiving many PDFs and want them to take up less storage space.
• A PDF full of photos or scanned pages loads slowly and needs to be lighter.
• You're uploading a scanned application to a portal with a strict file-size limit.
• You're emailing a large report and don't want it to bounce back as too big.

Tips for a better result

• Start with Recommended; it balances size and quality for most everyday documents.
• Use Extreme only where image quality doesn't matter much, like internal drafts.
• If a file is already optimized, compression may return it unchanged instead of making it bigger.
• Compress after merging or editing, since those steps can sometimes increase file size again.
• If quality matters more than size, try Less compression first and only go to Extreme if you still need it smaller.

Privacy: what happens to your file

This tool uploads your file to our server, because real PDF compression needs a full document engine that a browser can't run. We write it to a temporary folder to process it, then delete that folder immediately after your download is ready, whether the job succeeds or fails. We don't keep a copy or share it with anyone.

Compress PDF is one of 34 free organize-category tools on fillable.ca. It pairs well with merge pdf, organize pdf and pdf to word for a complete document workflow — see the full tools listfor everything else that’s free to use.