Compress a PDF for email

Make a PDF smaller by re-encoding the images inside it, dropping duplicated objects and clearing metadata, without sending the document anywhere.

Drop your files here

.pdf · up to 300 MB

Choose files

How to Compress PDF

1
Drop your PDF
Add one file or up to twenty at once. Each document is opened by your own browser, so nothing is uploaded and nothing waits in a queue.
2
Pick a compression level
Best quality keeps images at 300 DPI and quality 85. Balanced goes to 150 DPI and quality 65. Smallest file drops to 96 DPI and quality 45. Or pick Target size with a goal such as 500 KB, and the quality and resolution are found for you.
3
Download the smaller file
The result keeps every page, all text and all form fields. Several files come back as one ZIP archive; each name ends in -compressed, or in the target, such as -500kb or -smallest, when you compress to a size.

The numbers that apply

Gmail refuses attachments over 25 MB, Outlook.com over 20 MB, and many corporate mail servers are stricter still: 10 MB is common and 5 MB is not rare. Worse, the limit applies after encoding, which inflates a file by roughly a third, so a 20 MB PDF can be rejected by a 25 MB limit. This page sets the target to 5 MB for that reason: the goal is an email that sends, not one that technically should.

What makes email PDFs so large

Scans and photographs. A contract scanned at 600 dpi in colour is enormous and looks no better on a screen than the same pages at 150 dpi; a slide deck exported to PDF carries every image at presentation resolution. Compression resamples those down and leaves the text layer alone, which is why the result is usually a fraction of the size with no visible change on screen. If the document is pure text and still large, something is embedded in it: fonts, attachments, or a scanned signature page.

When compression is not the answer

If a document is still too large after compression, sending it as a link beats fighting the limit. Most cloud drives generate one in a click. Splitting is the other option and is often better for the recipient: sending chapters as separate files is easier to read than one enormous attachment. And if the recipient is inside your own organisation, a shared folder avoids the mail server entirely.

Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and corporate limits

Gmail and Yahoo Mail allow 25 MB per message, Outlook.com and iCloud Mail 20 MB, and corporate servers commonly 10 MB, sometimes less. Three details catch people out. The limit covers all the attachments in one message together, so two 12 MB PDFs fail a 20 MB cap. The recipient's server has a limit of its own: a message that leaves Gmail without complaint can still bounce at a company that accepts 10 MB, sometimes hours later. And past their limit, Gmail and Outlook.com offer to send a cloud link instead of the file, which some recipients cannot or will not open. A 5 MB PDF avoids all three, which is why the target on this page sits there. Switch the preset to 1 or 2 MB for an upload form, or raise it to the limit you know you have.

The document never leaves your computer

Compression runs inside your browser tab, in a background thread on your own machine. The PDF is not uploaded, not copied to a server and not stored anywhere for us to delete later, which is why contracts, payslips and medical scans can be compressed here. Close the tab and everything still in memory is gone with it.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my PDF barely get smaller?

Because it has little or no raster content. Text, fonts and vector graphics are already compressed inside a PDF and are copied over untouched, so a file of pure text has almost nothing left to squeeze. Files built from scans or photographs shrink the most.

What is the difference between the three levels?

They set two numbers: JPEG quality and the resolution ceiling. Best quality uses quality 85 and 300 DPI, Balanced uses 65 and 150 DPI, Smallest file uses 45 and 96 DPI. Lower numbers mean smaller files and softer images; page count and text are identical in all three.

Will my scanned pages look worse?

At Balanced and Best quality, scanned text stays sharp enough to read comfortably on screen and to print. At Smallest file, photographs and colour gradients show visible artefacts and fine print softens. Try Balanced first and compare before you commit to a harsher setting.

Does my file get uploaded to a server?

No. The document is parsed, re-encoded and rebuilt by your own browser. No part of it travels over the network, and nothing of yours is stored anywhere. Compression also works with the connection switched off once the engine has loaded, which happens with the first file you add.

Is the text layer still searchable afterwards?

Yes. Text is never rasterised here, so every word stays selectable, searchable and copyable, and bookmarks, links and form fields keep working. Only the embedded images are re-encoded, which is what makes the file smaller in the first place.

Why can a password-protected PDF not be compressed?

Because its contents are encrypted, and the images cannot be read without the password. Remove the protection first with the password removal tool, compress the plain file, then apply a password again if you still need one.

How small can a vector or text-only document get?

Usually a few percent at best. Such a file is mostly font data and drawing instructions, both already packed by the format itself. When there is nothing raster to work on, the tool says so plainly instead of handing back a file of the same size.

Can I compress several PDFs at once?

Yes, up to twenty files in one go, with the same level applied to each. Every document is processed separately in your browser and the results arrive together in one ZIP archive, with each file keeping its original name plus a suffix: -compressed for a level, or the target, such as -500kb, when you compress to a size.