How to make a PDF smaller (compress a PDF on any device)

Make a PDF smaller with Quick PDF Compress

1. Open Compress Go to quickpdfapp.com/compress-pdf in Safari, Chrome, Edge or any modern browser and sign in. The same page works on phones, tablets and computers.
2. Choose your PDF Pick the file from Files or iCloud Drive on iPhone, Downloads or Google Drive on Android, or Finder, File Explorer or the Files app on a computer. It is opened on your device, not uploaded.
3. Select Balanced Balanced is the recommended level for most files. It shrinks photos and scanned images and keeps text crisp and selectable.
4. Compress and check the size Run the compression and look at the new file size before you save. Files full of photos or scans usually shrink a lot; text-only files shrink much less.
5. Try another level if needed If the file is still too large, start again from the original with Smallest. If Balanced already made it small enough, try Light instead for the best quality.
6. Download the smaller copy Download it or tap Share to send it straight to Mail, Messages or a cloud folder. Open it once to make sure every page looks right before you send it.

Open Compress PDF

Light, Balanced or Smallest: which level to use

Smallest has a real trade-off: once a page becomes an image, its text can no longer be selected, searched or copied, and fillable fields stop working. Keep your original file so you can always go back to it.

How to compress a PDF on each device

iPhone and iPad

Use Safari and pick the file from the Files app. To see the size afterward, long-press the PDF in Files and tap Get Info. There is a separate walkthrough for reducing PDF size on iPhone.

Android

Use Chrome. Downloads usually land in the Downloads folder of the Files app (on Samsung phones, My Files), where the size is shown under each file name.

Mac

Any browser works. In Finder, select the file and press Command-I to compare the size before and after.

Windows

Use Edge or Chrome. In File Explorer, switch to Details view to see the Size column for the old and new copies side by side.

Chromebook

Use Chrome and save to My files or Google Drive. The Files app shows the size of each PDF.

Other ways to reduce PDF size

Compression is the fastest fix, but it is not the only one, and combining methods often works best.

• Delete pages you don't need. Cover sheets, blank pages and duplicate scans add size for nothing. Use Delete pages before compressing.
• Split the file. If a size limit is per file, send the document in two or three parts with Split.
• Export smaller from the source. If you made the PDF yourself in Word, choosing the minimum size option when saving as PDF gives a lighter file than the print-quality default.
• Mac Preview. File > Export with the Reduce File Size Quartz filter is built into macOS. It can shrink images a lot, sometimes so much that photos and scans look rough, so check the result.
• Scan smarter. A scan made in black and white or grayscale is far smaller than a full-color one.

If you want to understand what is taking up the space first, see why your PDF is so large.

Troubleshooting: when a PDF won't get smaller

• It barely changed. The file is probably mostly text and fonts, which are already compact. Removing pages or splitting will do more than another round of compression.
• It got bigger. This can happen when a file was already heavily compressed. Keep the original; it is the smaller one.
• It looks blurry. Go back to the original and use Light or Balanced instead of Smallest. Don't compress a compressed copy again; quality drops each time.
• I can't select text anymore. That is how Smallest works. Use Balanced if the reader needs to copy text or fill in fields.
• The form fields stopped working. Smallest turns pages into images, so fields can't be filled afterwards. Fill in the form before you compress, or keep to a gentler level.
• It asks for a password. Open it with Unlock using the password you have, compress it, then protect it again if needed.

How small can a PDF get?

There is no honest way to promise an exact number in advance, because the result depends on what is inside the file. A 20-page scan from a phone camera might drop to a fraction of its size, while a 20-page text report may only lose a little. Quick PDF doesn't ask you for a target size; you choose a level, see the result and adjust.

If you have a specific limit to hit, like an upload portal that accepts files up to 1 MB, follow the step-by-step approach in compress a PDF to 1MB. If the limit is your email, see what to do when a PDF is too large to email.

Compress at the right moment

The order of your edits affects the final size and quality. Make all your changes first: fill in fields, add your signature, remove or reorder pages. Compress last, as the final step before sending. Each time you compress an already-compressed file, images lose more detail without getting much smaller.

If you are merging several documents, merge them first and compress the combined file once. Compressing each part separately and then merging gives a similar size but more chances to lose quality.

Questions people ask