Compress a PDF
Make a PDF smaller for email and the web, choosing how hard pictures are squeezed while text stays sharp.
or drop it anywhere
How to compress a PDF
Open your PDF
Pick it or drop it on this page. Its current size is shown.
Choose a level
Light keeps pictures full size; Balanced shrinks them; Smallest is for email.
Compress and save
See how much smaller it got, then download or save it.
Compress PDF in your browser
Most of a large PDF's size is usually its pictures: scans, photos, and images pasted in at full camera resolution. OnePDF scales those down and recompresses them, trims embedded fonts to the letters the document uses, and drops repeated pictures and unused objects. Text and vector drawings are never touched, so they stay sharp at every level.
Light keeps pictures at full size, Balanced shrinks them, and Smallest makes a file for email and the web. You see how much smaller it got before saving, and if a level would not make the file smaller, it is left exactly as it was.
Why use OnePDF to compress a PDF
Text stays sharp
Only pictures are scaled down and recompressed; text and drawings are untouched.
Fonts trimmed
Embedded fonts are cut down to the letters the document uses.
Duplicates dropped
Repeated pictures and unused objects are removed from the file.
Questions about Compress PDF
Will compressing lower the quality?
Text and vector drawings keep full quality at every level. Pictures are scaled and recompressed more at Balanced and Smallest.
What if the file doesn't get smaller?
If a level would not make it smaller, the file is left exactly as it was, and you can try a stronger level.
Is my PDF uploaded?
Not unless you sign in. Signed out, your file is opened by OnePDF inside your browser, on your own device, and is not uploaded to any server. Signed in with a TensorActivity account, the files you open are also saved to your account, encrypted, so they are there on every device you sign in to.
Guides
- Is it safe to upload a PDF to an online tool?
What happens to a file you upload to an online PDF service, how long the best-known ones say they keep it, and how to tell whether a tool uploads at all.
- How to make a PDF small enough to email
Why a PDF gets too large to attach, how to shrink one while keeping its text sharp, and what to do when it is still too big.
- A private alternative to Smallpdf, iLovePDF and Acrobat online
How OnePDF compares with the best-known online PDF services, where it differs, and when another tool is the better choice.