Email attachments
Get a PDF under a mailbox limit before attaching it to Gmail, Outlook, or a support ticket.
Compress a PDF without uploading it
Runs in your browser
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your file is never uploaded and never leaves your device.
Most online PDF compressors send your document to their servers. This one does not. The work happens inside this page on your own device, which means a contract, a medical record or a signed form never leaves your computer. Choose a file, pick how hard to compress, and you will see exactly how much smaller it got.
Compress PDF files
Choose a PDF to compress
Drag and drop here, or browse your device. Up to 10 files, 100.00 MB each.
How your file is processed
When you choose a PDF, the browser reads it into this page’s memory. The compression code then walks through the document, finds the images embedded in it, redraws each one at a lower quality and, where the image is larger than it needs to be, at fewer pixels. The rebuilt document is handed back to you as a download.
No part of that involves a network request. There is no upload, no queue, no temporary copy on a server, and therefore no retention policy to trust — we could not read your document even if we wanted to. Closing the tab discards everything.
You do not have to take our word for it. Open your browser’s developer tools, select the Network tab, and compress a file. No request carrying your PDF appears, because none is made.
When to compress a PDF
Portal uploads
Job applications, visa forms, school submissions and government portals often cap uploads at 2–5MB.
Confidential documents
Contracts, medical records and HR files you are not allowed to upload to a third-party server.
How to compress a PDF
1
Choose your PDF
Drag it in or browse. The file is read by the page, not sent anywhere.
2
Pick a level
Recommended, Strong or Maximum, depending on how small you need it.
3
Compress
Your browser re-encodes the images inside the document.
4
Download
Save the result. Nothing was uploaded, so there is nothing to delete.
How much compression can you actually expect?
Honestly: it depends on the document, and any tool quoting one number for every file is guessing. Size in a PDF almost always comes from embedded raster images. A scanned contract is a stack of photographs of paper, and photographs re-encode extremely well — reductions above 90% are common. A report exported from Word with a couple of charts is mostly text and vector data, which is already about as compact as it gets; expect only a few percent there, and that is not a failure, it is the file already being efficient. We show you the real before and after size for every file so you can judge the result rather than trust a marketing claim.
What the compression levels change
All three levels do the same thing — re-encode images — but with different limits. Recommended keeps images detailed enough for normal printing and is the right default. Strong trades a little sharpness in photographs for a noticeably smaller file, which suits email and upload portals. Maximum is for when the only thing that matters is fitting under a limit; photographs will visibly soften. Text and vector graphics are identical at every level, because they are never re-encoded at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does this upload my PDF anywhere?
- No. The compression runs in your browser using JavaScript. Your file is read into the page's memory, processed on your device, and offered back to you as a download. It is never sent to ToolMint or to any third party. You can confirm this yourself: open your browser's developer tools, switch to the Network tab, and compress a file — you will see no upload request.
- How much smaller will my PDF get?
- It depends entirely on what is inside it. PDFs made of scans or photographs usually shrink dramatically, often by 80–95%, because photographic data is where the size is. A PDF that is mostly text and vector graphics may only shrink by a few percent, because there is very little to give up. We show you the real before and after figures rather than promising a fixed number.
- Will the text still be selectable?
- Yes. This tool only re-encodes the images embedded in the document. Page structure, text and vector graphics are left exactly as they were, so the PDF stays searchable and the text stays selectable.
- Why did my PDF barely get smaller?
- Almost certainly because it is already efficient. Text-only documents, files already compressed by another tool, and PDFs whose images use formats we do not re-encode all have little headroom. If the result would have been larger than the original, we give you the original back untouched rather than a worse file.
- Is there a file size limit?
- 100MB per file, and up to 10 files at a time. This is a browser limit rather than a server one: your device has to hold the document in memory while it works. Very large files are slower on phones and older laptops. If a big file fails, split it first and compress the parts.
- Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
- Not directly. An encrypted PDF has to be unlocked before its contents can be read. Remove the password first, then compress the unlocked copy.
- Does it work on a phone?
- Yes. It runs in any modern mobile browser with no app to install. Because processing happens on your device, very large files take longer on a phone than on a laptop.
- Is it really free?
- Yes. There is no signup, no watermark, no page limit and no trial. Since your device does the work, serving this tool costs us almost nothing.
Next steps with your PDF
These all run in your browser too.
Related Tools
Merge PDF
Combine multiple PDF files into one organized document in the right order.
Split PDF
Split a PDF by page range, custom sections, or individual pages.
PDF to JPG
Convert PDF pages into JPG images for sharing, previewing, or reuse.
Edit PDF
Add text, drawings, highlights, shapes, and image stamps to a PDF.