Compress PDF Online
Reduce PDF file size while preserving readable quality.
100% free, no signup. Your file is processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded, then e-sign in one click when you are ready.
Drop your document here and sign it now. PDF, Word and Excel all work: a .docx or .xlsx is laid out in your browser exactly as it was written, so there is nothing to convert first. Add a signature, a date, a company stamp or a watermark, then download it sealed. Free to start, no account, and the file is never uploaded to open it.
How to compress pdf in 3 steps
- Upload your PDF, Open the Compress PDF tool and add your PDF. Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.
- Compress PDF, Reduce PDF file size while preserving readable quality.
- Download, Download your file instantly, 100% free, no signup, no watermark.
Where the size actually is
A text PDF is small. If your file is 30MB, it is almost certainly images: a scan, photographs pasted into a report, or a logo saved at print resolution and used in a header on every page. Compressing a PDF means compressing those, and everything else is rounding.
That is why the same setting behaves so differently on different documents. A 40MB scan may come down to 3MB with no visible loss, because it was scanned at a resolution nobody needed. A 4MB document that is mostly text may barely move, because there was nothing to remove.
What you are trading away
Compression discards image detail permanently. The question is whether the detail mattered, and there is one test that answers it: after compressing, zoom in on the smallest text on the busiest page. If it is still crisp, the compression cost you nothing. If it has gone soft, you have thrown away the part somebody will need to read.
That check matters most on the documents people compress most: bank statements, invoices and ID scans, where the small print is the content. Compress to meet a limit, not by reflex, and keep the original.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Compress PDF tool free?
Yes. Compress PDF is 100% free with no signup. Your file is processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded to a server.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in any modern browser on desktop or mobile, no app, no plugin, no account.
Is my file private?
Yes. Files are processed locally in your browser, so they never leave your device.
Why did my file barely get smaller?
Because it was already mostly text. There is very little to remove from a text PDF, and a file that will not compress is usually a file that did not need to.
Does compressing lose quality?
Image detail, yes, permanently. Text stays text and is unaffected. Zoom in on the smallest print afterwards to see whether the trade was worth it.
Will it break a signature?
Yes. Compression rewrites the file, so a cryptographic signature will no longer validate. Compress first, then sign.