What is PDF Compressor?

Compress PDF files to reduce their size without losing quality. The tool shrinks embedded images, removes redundant data, and cleans up the PDF structure. Processing happens entirely on your device — your documents never leave it.

Compression re-encodes embedded JPEG images at lower quality and resolution, strips document metadata, and rewrites the PDF's object streams. Five levels cover everything from Lossless (metadata-only, no image changes) through Low, Medium and High, which target JPEG quality 0.82 / 0.52 / 0.28 with scale 1.0 / 0.75 / 0.5, up to Custom — a 1-to-100 quality slider for an exact quality/size tradeoff. Prefer a hard limit? Switch on target-size mode, type a size in MB, and the tool tries each level for you and keeps the most quality that still fits. A grayscale toggle drops color from embedded images, which is what makes scanned color reports and ID copies shrink dramatically, and an optional cleanup pass removes annotations, bookmarks and file attachments. A first-page preview shows the page before and after so you can confirm image fidelity before downloading, and you can drop in many PDFs at once and grab them back as a ZIP. Image-heavy PDFs (scanned books, photo decks, brochures) shrink the most; PDFs that are already text-only or already optimised may only drop 5 to 10%.

How to use

1. Upload one or more PDF files. The tool displays each file's original size and page count, and accepts drag-and-drop or click-to-browse.
2. Pick how to compress: choose a level — Lossless (no image changes), Low, Medium, High, or Custom with a quality slider you dial yourself — or switch on target-size mode and type a size in MB to let the tool pick the level for you. Add the grayscale or cleanup options if you want to squeeze out more.
3. Click 'Compress' and download the optimized PDF. The first-page preview shows the page before and after, so you can check image quality, and the size badges show what you saved.

When to use

• Shrinking a scanned ID or contract below the 5 MB attachment limit on most email providers.
• Trimming a 30-slide pitch deck so it loads in a tab without buffering on slow Wi-Fi.
• Preparing photo-heavy travel itineraries or brochures for upload to a guest portal that caps file size.

Result

Upload a 12MB presentation PDF with 30 slides: select 'Medium' compression, wait for processing, and download a 3.2MB version, 73% smaller, with all slides and text intact.

FAQ

How much smaller will my PDF get?

It depends entirely on what's inside. Scanned documents and photo-heavy decks typically shrink 30 to 70%. Pure text PDFs or files already optimised by Acrobat/InDesign might only drop 5 to 10%. The result panel shows the actual size saved.

Will compression affect the text quality or make it blurry?

Text and vector graphics are kept untouched — the tool only re-encodes embedded JPEGs and removes metadata. Text always stays sharp. Only embedded photos lose some detail, and only at Medium or High compression.

Which compression level should I pick?

Lossless when you only want to strip metadata and repack the file with zero image changes — best for text-only or already-optimised PDFs. Low for archival quality (barely visible change). Medium for email or sharing on the web (recommended default). High when you absolutely must get the file as small as possible and don't need print-grade images. If you have a firm size limit, use target-size mode instead and let the tool choose.

Why did my PDF barely shrink even at High compression?

Your PDF likely has no embedded JPEG images — just text and vector graphics, which can't be re-encoded. Files exported from Word or Google Docs typically fall in this category. There's just nothing left to compress.

Does the tool work on password-protected PDFs?

It accepts encrypted PDFs in read-only mode (no password needed for viewing), but cannot strip true password protection. If the PDF requires a password to open at all, decrypt it first with a tool that takes the password.

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