Save 50% with the PDF Ultimate plan
 

Compress PDFs to make them smaller

 

How to compress a PDF for free

1. Upload your file. To take advantage of our free online PDF compression, simply drag and drop your PDF file to upload it to our server.

2. Decide how much to compress. Choose between Basic, Medium, or Strong compression. For image-rich PDFs, we recommend choosing Basic or Medium compression settings to avoid significantly reducing the quality of your images.

3. Download your file. Once the compression is completed, click on "Download your file" and choose where you want to save it.
Reasons to compress with us
icon

Simple process


You don't need to play with downsampling or other advanced settings to compress PDFs online properly.
icon

Your work remains private

We automatically delete the uploaded file as soon as you download your compressed PDF, keeping your personal data out of harm's reach.
icon

Compress from any device

As long as your device supports modern browsers, how to compress a PDF's file size will no longer be something to worry about.
Compress

Compress better with PDF Extra Desktop

PDF Extra Desktop's PDF compressor is designed to optimize PDF documents by making them smaller, faster to load, and easier to work with. It does this by taking your original file and compressing it to only a fraction of its initial size in a few easy steps. As a result, compressed PDFs are faster to share and take up less space on servers, streamlining organizations' work with files and allowing you to focus on more valuable tasks. Unlike our free online PDF compression tool, you can also compress an unlimited amount of files and get access to additional settings.
Free Download
Compress without limits
compressor for anyone
all users icon

A PDF compressor that anyone can use

With PDF Extra Desktop, getting the perfect balance between PDF size and quality is as simple as dragging the compression slider anywhere between 0% and 100% until you're satisfied with the result. With extended options for compressing PDFs to the most compact size possible, PDF Extra is a highly functional tool that is ideal for individual and business users ranging from students and interns to seasoned teams.
Free Download
images icon

Best compression of embedded images

As images and other graphical elements are added to a PDF, its file size will rapidly grow, making it hard to use and share. With PDF Extra's compression tool, you can shrink not just text-based content, but also all embedded images in the file by a custom amount to get the most efficient compression possible.
Free Download
Best compression of embedded images

Why use PDF Extra Desktop instead of our free online tool?



Besides allowing unlimited PDF compression, PDF Extra Desktop lets you work locally on your device, avoiding the need to compress your PDF document online. With PDF Extra's compression, you also get to decide just how much to compress text and images. You can also set the appropriate DPI resolution for each image within your document to preserve its quality for print work. Lastly, PDF compression erases any junk data stored from previous document revisions, ensuring that your final version will only contain what truly matters for your project.


FAQs
PDF compression helps you minimize a PDF’s file size as much as possible without degrading its original quality. For instance, it is exceptionally useful when you need to share documents via email since you’re always guaranteed to meet the attachment limits.
When compressing PDF with PDF Extra Desktop, the software allows you to preview the file size of the compressed file and adjust the level of compression until the file size is acceptable. Previewing is also practical for checking the image quality as PDF compression of images may reduce it.
The PDF Extra Desktop’s compressor balances an optimized file size against the expected quality of images and other file content. If you are not sure what level of compression to use to compress PDF files offline or online, leave it to the PDF compressor and use the default optimized settings.

When choosing this setting, PDF Extra will reduce the size of your PDF files, without compromising on quality. Generally, it’s best to avoid high compression amounts unless necessary since they could significantly degrade the quality of your texts and images.
When sending files over email or sharing them with others, it’s essential to enable image compression so that the final result takes up as little space as possible. For your convenience, we suggest making several versions of your file with varying amounts of compression and then picking the file with the smallest size and the best quality.
In order to compress multiple files, you first need to combine the PDFs. You can later compress the combined file to ensure that it will meet any email attachment requirements.
Even if you end up accidentally choosing high compression settings, you can rest assured that PDF Extra Desktop will keep your original file intact. This way, you can restart the process as many times as needed until you are satisfied with the result.
There are plenty of online and offline tools that allow you to compress PDFs and make them easier to share in different ways. However, most of these free online compressors do not allow any level of compression customization, which means you don't have any control over the extent to which the file is reduced.

Keep in mind that security is equally important when working with online tools. With offline PDF compressors, such as PDF Extra, you work locally on your desktop and so security is not an issue. With PDF Extra's compression, you can also decide how much reduction you want to apply to the embedded images.

See what else is possible with PDF Extra


 
We use cookies to improve your experience. OK close icon
/
pages
index
features-compress
Free Download
Free Download for {0}
Also available for {0} and {1}
https://checkout.mobisystems.com/
×
Almost ready!
You're just 60 seconds away from enjoying a seamless PDF workflow.

Download doesn't start automatically?
Get installer
Wait for your download to finish
Run the installer ("PdfExtraSetup_IID")
Follow the on-screen instructions