PDF Compressor
See reduce the file size of your PDF documents while maintaining visual quality.
Last updated: April 28, 2026
Upload a PDF
Drag & drop or browse
Compress Settings
Compression is performed locally. Basic level cleans the structure, while Recommended and Extreme levels optimize internal image assets.
PDF Compressor
Our PDF Compressor offers three compression levels that run entirely inside your browser, so your document never reaches a server. Basic mode rewrites the file with pdf-lib using object streams, cleaning structural bloat while keeping every page lossless and all text selectable. Recommended mode renders each page through PDF.js at 1.5x scale and re-encodes it as JPEG at quality 0.7, which slashes the size of image-heavy reports and scans. Extreme mode renders at 1.0x with quality 0.4 for the smallest possible output. A page-by-page progress bar shows exactly where the job is, and the finished document downloads with a clear compressed filename ready for email or upload limits.
Why This Tool Exists
What makes this useful — and why I built it this way.
Optimized File Sizes: Reduce large PDF document sizes without losing readability.
Choose Your Trade-Off: Basic stays lossless and text-selectable, Recommended and Extreme go smaller by re-encoding images.
Fast Browser-Side Processing: Pages render and re-encode locally with no upload and no queue.
Private by Design: Your document is processed on a local canvas and never leaves your device.
When You'd Use This
Real situations where this tool saves the day.
Job Applications: Shrink portfolio PDFs to fit under company upload limits.
Emailing Documents: Compress tax and legal forms to send as small attachments.
Web Publishing: Optimize online manuals to speed up loading for visitors.
Form Re-Submission: Squeeze scanned attachments under strict portal file-size limits.
Using PDF Compressor
It's straightforward — here's how it works.
Upload the PDF document you want to compress.
Select your desired compression level (Basic, Recommended, or Extreme).
Click 'Compress PDF' to start the optimization.
Watch the progress bar advance as each page is processed.
Download the smaller, optimized version of your document.
Questions People Ask
Honest answers about how this works.
How much can it reduce my PDF size?
Honestly? It depends on the original content. Image-heavy reports and scanned PDFs see the largest savings, often 70 to 80 percent at the Extreme level, while already-optimized text documents gain less. Basic mode typically saves 5 to 15 percent by cleaning structure without touching a single pixel.
Will it affect text quality?
Basic mode is fully lossless, so your text stays sharp and selectable exactly as before. Recommended and Extreme rasterize each page into an image, which can soften very small text and removes text selection. For text-heavy documents we recommend Basic; for photo-rich reports the higher levels shine.
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. The entire pipeline runs locally inside your tab: PDF.js renders the pages, jsPDF re-encodes the images, and pdf-lib writes the final file. Nothing about your document is uploaded, stored, or shared with a server, which makes it safe for contracts, tax forms, and client material.
Discover More Tools
Hand-picked utilities to speed up your workflow.