Why PDFs get large
Most oversized PDFs are heavy because of images — scanned pages, photos and screenshots store a lot of data. Text, by contrast, is tiny. That's why scanned documents compress far more than text-only files.
Compress a PDF in your browser
The fastest free method runs entirely on your device and lets you choose the quality.
- 1Open the Compress PDF tool.
- 2Drag in your PDF or click to select it.
- 3Choose a quality level — Recommended balances size and clarity.
- 4Download the smaller file and check the before/after size.
Get the smallest size without ruining quality
Start with the Recommended setting and only move to a stronger level if you still need a smaller file.
If your PDF is mostly text, it's already small — expect modest savings.
For emailing, aim to stay under your provider's attachment limit (often 20–25 MB).