Compress PDF Files Without Losing Quality

Email attachments have size limits. File sharing platforms have upload caps. And large PDFs are just slow to send. Our free PDF compressor reduces file size by removing embedded metadata, duplicate objects, and optimizing the internal structure — without degrading the text or images you can see.

Three Compression Levels Explained

Basic

5–15% smaller

Removes metadata, creator info, and redundant internal objects. Safest compression — virtually no visible change. Best for text-heavy PDFs.

Standard

20–40% smaller

Everything in Basic plus stream compression and object deduplication. The right balance for most documents.

Maximum

30–50% smaller

Applies all optimizations including aggressive object compression. Best results on PDFs with many images or complex elements.

How to Compress a PDF

Upload your PDF

Drag & drop a PDF or click to browse. The original file size is shown immediately after loading.

Choose compression level

Pick Basic, Standard, or Maximum depending on how small you need the output to be.

Compress & Download

Click Compress PDF. The tool shows you the original size, compressed size, and reduction percentage before downloading.

Why PDFs Get Bloated

• Embedded fonts: Full font files embedded instead of subsets
• Creator metadata: Author info, software name, edit history stored in the file
• Duplicate objects: PDFs edited multiple times accumulate redundant data
• Uncompressed streams: Old PDF generators skip stream compression
• High-res images: Images embedded at print quality when screen quality is enough

When to Use Each Level

Situation	Recommended Level
Legal or medical documents where quality must be preserved	Basic
Business reports, invoices, presentations	Standard
Need to fit under an email attachment limit	Maximum
PDF has lots of images or was created by a scanner	Maximum
Archiving for long-term storage	Basic

No Upload Required

The compression runs entirely in your browser. Your PDF is never sent to any server — it stays on your device throughout the process. This makes it safe to compress confidential documents like tax returns, contracts, or medical files.

Reduce PDF size by up to 50%

Free, browser-based, your files never leave your device.

Open PDF Compressor →