Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

No. The compression runs in your own browser using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Your file never leaves your device, which is why the tool still works if you disconnect from the internet after the page loads.

Can I compress a PDF to exactly 200KB?

Yes. Type 200 into the target size box. The tool searches image scale and JPEG quality settings until the output fits under your target, then gives you the highest-quality version that still fits.

Will the text still be selectable after compression?

In Target Size mode, no. Pages are rasterised into images to hit a hard size limit, so text becomes part of the picture. If you need selectable text, use Lossless mode instead, which keeps the document structure but saves less space.

Is there a file size limit?

There is no server limit because there is no server. The practical limit is your device's memory. Files up to about 50MB are comfortable on a typical laptop; very large scanned documents may be slow on older phones.

Compress a PDF to an exact file size

Type the number of kilobytes you are allowed. Get a PDF that fits under it. No upload, no signup, no watermark.

🔒 Your file never leaves this device

Choose a PDF or drop it here Nothing is uploaded — processing happens in your browser

Method

Target size (KB)

Why an exact size, and not just "smaller"?

Most compressors give you a slider labelled low, medium and high, then hand back whatever size happens to come out. That is fine when you just want a smaller email attachment. It is useless when a form tells you the upload must be under 200 KB and rejects 214 KB without explanation.

Government portals, university applications, visa systems and job boards all enforce hard limits like this. Guessing at a quality slider and re-checking the file size in your file manager is a miserable loop. This tool closes the loop for you: it repeatedly re-encodes the document, measuring the real output size each time, and returns the best-looking version that still fits under the number you typed.

How it works

The PDF is read into memory in your browser. It is never transmitted anywhere.
Each page is rendered to a canvas at a chosen resolution.
Pages are re-encoded as JPEG images and reassembled into a new PDF.
The tool binary-searches the quality setting, and steps the resolution down if needed, until the result fits under your target.
You get the highest quality version that fits — not just the first one that happens to be small enough.

Trade-off worth understanding: Target Size mode converts pages to images, so text stops being selectable or searchable. That is the only way to guarantee a hard size ceiling. If you need the text layer preserved, pick Lossless mode — it strips metadata and repacks the file structure, which typically saves 5–25% and never touches quality.

Pick your target

Compress to 100 KBThe tightest limit most forms use. Realistic for text documents up to a few pages. Compress to 200 KBThe most common government upload limit worldwide. Compress for emailGet under the 25 MB Gmail and Outlook attachment ceiling. Compress a scanned PDFScans are mostly photographs — where the biggest savings hide.

What size should I aim for?

Situation	Typical limit	Realistic for
Government / exam form upload	100–300 KB	1–5 text pages
University application	500 KB – 2 MB	10–30 pages
Gmail / Outlook attachment	25 MB	Almost anything
Web upload / contact form	2–5 MB	Most scanned documents

Questions people actually ask

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything runs in your browser. You can verify it yourself: load this page, turn off your Wi-Fi, and compress a file. It still works, because there is nothing to talk to.

Why did my file only shrink a little?

You were probably in Lossless mode, which cannot touch image data. A PDF that is mostly scanned photographs is nearly all image bytes, and the only way to make it meaningfully smaller is to re-encode those images — which is what Target Size mode does.

Why can it not reach my target?

A 400-page document has a floor: even at minimum quality, each page costs some bytes. If the tool reports the smallest achievable size, that is a genuine physical limit, not a paywall. Splitting the document into parts is usually the answer.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes, though large files are slower because compression uses your device's processor. A 5 MB file on a mid-range phone takes a few seconds. A 50 MB scan may take a minute or run out of memory.

What about password-protected PDFs?

Remove the password first, in whatever application you used to open it. The tool deliberately does not attempt to bypass document encryption.