Make a PDF smaller while keeping its text
Compress PDF reduces the size of embedded images and optimizes the document structure. The presets retain selectable text, vectors, links, supported editable forms, bookmarks, attachments and accessibility tags. Your file is processed in your browser without being sent to our servers.
Choose a compression level
Start with Balanced, then compare image detail in the downloaded PDF with your original.
| Level | Image resolution | JPEG quality | Best starting point for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher quality | 200 DPI | 85% | Images with fine detail |
| Balanced | 144 DPI | 75% | Everyday documents |
| Smaller file | 96 DPI | 65% | A smaller file when some image detail loss is acceptable |
| Custom | Your choice | Your choice | Specific image and cleanup settings |
Resolution applies to eligible embedded images at their largest displayed size in the document. Images are never enlarged. Some images keep their original quality or resolution to preserve their appearance. A notice explains when this limits compression, so results vary between PDFs. Text drawn as text and vector graphics keep their original sharpness; text inside a scanned image may become softer.
Advanced settings
Open Advanced settings to adjust the selected level. Any edit switches to Custom; choosing another preset resets every option. Preserve original images disables changes to image resolution, quality and colors.
Every preset removes optional stored page thumbnails, shares identical streams when their settings match, and subsets supported embedded fonts when all needed glyphs can be established. Lossless stream compression runs automatically. These changes can help files with duplicate resources or oversized fonts; image resolution and quality usually make the larger difference in image-heavy PDFs.
The remaining options are off by default:
Grayscale removes color from supported images while leaving text and vector colors unchanged. Some images may retain their original colors.
Flatten form fields keeps their existing visible appearances but makes them uneditable. If any field appearance cannot be verified, the form stays editable.
Remove attachments, comments and links, or bookmarks discards the selected document features. Removing comments and links does not remove form fields.
Remove document metadata removes document information and document XMP, such as title and author. It does not anonymize the PDF.
Remove output intents discards printing color profiles and can affect print colors or PDF/A conformance. Remove accessibility tags discards structure and reading-order information, reducing accessibility and potentially affecting PDF/UA conformance.
Review the result before replacing your original. A notice identifies transformations that could not be completed safely or did not save space.
Compress and review
Choose a PDF
Add an unprotected PDF and wait for its details to appear.
Choose a level
Use Balanced first, or choose Custom for your own settings.
Compress the file
Confirm signature loss if the document has digital signatures, then start compression.
Check the result
Download the smaller PDF and review scans, photographs and fine image detail before replacing your original.
A download is offered only when the verified output is smaller. Otherwise, the original is retained and the requested changes are not delivered. For files that contain mostly text or already use efficient image compression, the reduction may be small or there may be no smaller output. You can combine related documents first with Merge PDF.
Changing a signed PDF invalidates its digital signatures. Keep the original when signature validation matters. Encrypted, editing-restricted and XFA documents cannot be processed here.
Will my text remain selectable and searchable?
Yes, existing selectable and searchable text is retained, including an existing OCR text layer. The tool does not add OCR to scans that have no text layer.
Why did compression reduce my PDF by only a little?
The PDF may already be compact, contain mostly text, or use image types that are preserved. Try Smaller file if image detail loss is acceptable. Compression cannot guarantee a particular reduction.
Can I compress without reducing image quality?
Choose Custom and enable Preserve original images. Structural cleanup still runs, but image dimensions and quality are retained.
Does metadata removal remove all private information?
No. It removes document information and document XMP metadata only. Content, annotations, attachments and other hidden information can remain.