ToolVaults

Compress a PDF (Shrink File Size)

Shrink a large PDF right in your browser. Great for scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs — pick a quality level and download a smaller file. No upload.

Runs 100% in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

How to use

  1. 1
    Drop in a PDF

    Use the file picker or drag-and-drop.

  2. 2
    Pick a quality level

    High keeps the most detail; Low gives the smallest file. Medium is a good default.

  3. 3
    Compress & download

    Each page is re-rendered in your browser and rebuilt into a new, smaller PDF.

Examples

Shrink a 40-page scanned contract
Input
Original: 18.4 MB (scanned at high DPI) · Quality: Medium
Output
Compressed: 4.1 MB (~78% smaller)
Scanned pages compress the most since they’re already images.
Compress a photo-heavy PDF report
Input
Original: 9.2 MB · Quality: Low
Output
Compressed: 1.6 MB (~83% smaller)
Low quality is best for sharing, not archival.

Frequently asked

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything happens in your browser using pdf.js and pdf-lib. The file never leaves your device.

How does this shrink the file?

Each page is redrawn as a JPEG image at the quality level you pick, then rebuilt into a new PDF. This is very effective on scanned documents and photo-heavy PDFs.

Will the text still be selectable?

No — this method flattens every page to an image, so text is no longer selectable or searchable in the output. If you need to keep text selectable, this tool isn’t the right fit; it’s built for scans and image-heavy PDFs.

What if the file doesn’t get smaller?

Text-only or already-optimized PDFs may not shrink much, since there’s little image data to begin with — you’ll see the before/after size and can decide whether to keep the result.

Are password-protected PDFs supported?

Not currently. Remove the password in your PDF viewer first.

Related tools