About the Compress PDF
Tezmy's Compress PDF tool makes PDF files smaller so they fit email attachments and upload limits on job portals, government forms and school websites. Choose Light to keep text selectable with a lossless clean-up, or Recommended and Strong to turn each page into an optimised image, which shrinks scanned documents and image-heavy PDFs dramatically. You'll see the size before and after, and nothing is ever uploaded: compression happens entirely in your browser.
Updated September 2026
How to use the Compress PDF
- 1Click Select PDF file, or drop your PDF on the page.
- 2Choose Light, Recommended or Strong.
- 3Click Compress PDF and wait for each page.
- 4Check the new size and download the smaller PDF.
Why is my PDF so big?
Most large PDFs are big because of pictures, not words. A page of typed text takes up only a few kilobytes, but a scanned page or a phone photo of a document is stored as a large image, often several megabytes each. Ten scanned pages can easily make a 20 MB file.
Other common causes are high-resolution scans (300 dpi or more), colour scans of black-and-white papers, and PDFs exported from design apps with every image kept at full quality. Compression helps most with exactly these files.
Which compression level should I choose?
If you are not sure, start with Recommended. You can always go back and try another level; your original file is never changed.
- Light: cleans up the file without touching the content, so text stays sharp and selectable. Savings are small, so use it for PDFs you made on a computer.
- Recommended: redraws each page as an optimised image at a good reading quality. Scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs usually shrink a lot, and the result still prints well.
- Strong: the smallest file, at a lower image quality. Use it when a website has a strict upload limit and every kilobyte counts.
How to get your PDF under 1 MB, 500 KB or 100 KB
Job portals, government forms and university applications often only accept small files. If your PDF is still too big after compressing, try these steps in order:
- Compress with Recommended, then with Strong if needed.
- Remove pages you don't need with our Delete PDF Pages tool, then compress again.
- Split a long document into parts with Split PDF and upload them separately, if the form allows it.
- For very small limits like 100 KB, scan again in black and white at 150 dpi before compressing. Grey scans are much smaller than colour ones.
Compress PDFs on iPhone, Android or computer
The tool works in any modern browser, so there is nothing to install. On an iPhone or iPad, open this page in Safari, tap Select PDF file and pick your document from Files. On Android, choose it from your Downloads or Drive. When it's done, the smaller PDF is saved to your downloads folder.
Because everything happens on your own device, it also works for private papers such as bank statements, ID documents and medical letters: they are never uploaded to any server.
Features
- Three compression levels
- Or a target size: under 100 KB, 200 KB, 1 MB or any number you type
- Big savings on scanned PDFs
- Light mode keeps text selectable
- Shows size before and after
- Keeps page sizes
- Private: files never leave your device
Frequently asked questions
Can I compress a PDF to a specific size, like 100 KB?
Yes. Switch to By file size (KB) and enter the limit from your form. The compressor tries the text-keeping method first, then page images at gradually lower settings, and keeps the sharpest version under the limit. If no readable version fits, it tells you the smallest size it reached.
Which level should I choose?
Start with Recommended. If the file is still too big, try Strong. Choose Light if you need to keep text selectable and searchable, though savings are smaller.
Will I still be able to select and copy text?
With Light, yes. Recommended and Strong turn each page into an image, so text can't be selected afterwards. Keep your original if you need that.
How do I compress a PDF to under 1 MB?
Try Recommended first, then Strong. Scanned documents usually drop well under 1 MB. For very long PDFs, split them into parts with our Split PDF tool.
Why didn't my PDF get smaller?
Text-only PDFs made on a computer are often already compact. Image-based levels help most with scans and photos.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Compression happens in your browser, so private documents stay on your device.
Can I compress several PDFs at once?
This tool compresses one PDF at a time so you can check each result. To send several documents as one small file, merge them first with Merge PDF, then compress the merged file.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no fixed limit. Very large PDFs with hundreds of scanned pages can take a while, and on older phones they may run out of memory. If that happens, split the file into parts first.
Does compressing a PDF lower the quality?
Light keeps the quality exactly the same. Recommended and Strong turn pages into images, so very small text may look softer. Always check the result before you send it, and keep your original.