Compress PDF to 1MB
Reduce PDF file sizes for email, web forms, and uploads, from 5MB down to 2MB, 1MB, or even smaller. Free, instant, and browser-based. No server uploads. Your documents stay private.
PDF pages may be converted to images
If the file is too large to compress losslessly, each page will be rasterized as a JPEG image. Text will no longer be selectable or searchable in the compressed output.
How PDF compression works
Lossless optimization
We first strip metadata, remove unused objects, and apply internal compression. Text remains selectable. No visual quality change. If the result is ≤ your target (5MB, 2MB, 1MB, etc.), we stop here.
Page rasterization (if needed)
If Pass 1 isn't enough, each page is rendered to a high-resolution JPEG image and reassembled into a new PDF. The file becomes smaller but text is no longer selectable.
Which PDFs shrink the most: scanned vs. text
Text PDFs exported from Word, Google Docs, or a print-to-PDF driver are usually small already, because most of the weight is fonts, metadata, and unused objects. Pass 1 lossless optimization typically brings these under 1MB while keeping the text fully selectable and searchable.
Scanned PDFs, where each page was photographed or run through a scanner, are really just images wrapped in a PDF, so they start large. These need Pass 2, which recompresses every page as a high-resolution JPEG. You can reach almost any target size, but the text is not selectable unless the scan was already run through OCR.
If your PDF mixes both, such as a text report with a couple of scanned signature pages, the compressor keeps the light pages lossless where it can and only rasterizes the heavy image pages needed to reach your target.
Compress a PDF to an exact size
Type any target into the size control: 1MB for most web upload forms, 2MB or 5MB for email attachments, or a strict cap like 500KB for government, visa, and job-application portals. You can enter the value in MB or KB.
The compressor works down from the original and stops as soon as the file fits, so you keep the best quality that still meets your limit. Smaller targets lean harder on Pass 2, so a scanned document squeezed to 500KB will look softer than the same file at 2MB. Need an exact image size instead? Use compress image to size.
Merged several PDFs? Compress the combined file to 1MB
Combine your documents with the free Merge PDF tool, then bring the result back here to shrink it to 1MB or your target size. Both steps run entirely in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Will the compressed PDF still be readable?
Yes. For small PDFs, we use lossless compression (stripping metadata) which preserves full quality. For larger PDFs that need rasterization, the pages become high-resolution images that look the same visually but text is no longer selectable.
Why is text no longer selectable after compression?
When a PDF is too large to compress losslessly, we render each page to an image and re-embed it. This is the same technique used by Adobe Acrobat and other PDF tools. The visual output looks identical but the text layer is removed.
What if my PDF can't reach the target size?
We'll show you the best size achieved. Very large PDFs with many high-resolution images may not reach every target size even at low quality settings. In that case, consider splitting the PDF into smaller parts.
Is my PDF safe?
Completely. All compression happens inside your browser. Your PDF is never sent to any server. We cannot see or access your files.
Can I compress to 2MB, 5MB, or another size?
Yes. Use the target size control to set 5MB, 2MB, 1MB, or any custom limit. The compressor works down from large to small, as aggressively as your target requires.
How do I compress a scanned PDF?
Drop it in and pick a target size. Scanned pages are images, so the compressor uses Pass 2 to recompress each page. You can reach almost any size, though the text stays non-selectable unless the scan was already run through OCR. A 20MB scan usually drops under 2MB with no meaningful loss of readability.
Can I compress a PDF to exactly 500KB or 300KB?
Yes. Enter the target in KB, for example 500kb, in the size control. Very small targets rely on aggressive rasterization, so text-heavy pages can look softer. If readability matters, try 800KB to 1MB first.
How do I merge PDFs and compress the result to 1MB?
Use the free Merge PDF tool to combine your files, download the merged PDF, then drop it here and set a 1MB target. Both steps run entirely in your browser with no uploads.
Learn more
How to compress PDF for email
Step-by-step guide to reducing PDF file size for email attachments.