Compress PDF in your browser
Free PDF compressor to shrink and make a PDF smaller. Strips metadata, optimizes structure. Works best on text and form PDFs. No upload, no signup.
Heads up: this is fast lossless compression — strips metadata, compresses object streams. Expect 5–20% smaller for typical PDFs. For maximum compression with image re-encoding, desktop tools work better.
How to use the PDF compressor
- 1
Drop your PDF
Drag and drop one or more PDFs into the box above, or click to upload.
- 2
Choose options
Keep metadata stripping on for the smallest output. Turn it off if you need to keep author or title fields.
- 3
Download
Each compressed PDF is ready to download instantly. Files never leave your browser.
What this tool does
Fileoholic's PDF compressor is a fast, lossless cleanup pass on your PDF. It removes hidden metadata (author name, title, application that created the file), compresses internal object streams, and rewrites the PDF using more efficient encoding. The result is a smaller PDF that looks exactly the same.
For PDFs with embedded photos, deeper compression usually means re-encoding the images to smaller JPEGs. That requires desktop software with image processing capability — see the affiliate links below for those cases.
Your files never leave your browser.
All processing runs locally on your device. No uploads, no tracking of file content.
FAQ
How much smaller will my PDF get?
Typically 5-20% smaller for documents with text, forms, or non-image content. Image-heavy PDFs barely shrink because the images themselves are not re-encoded — that needs desktop software like Adobe Acrobat.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. The PDF library runs in your browser. Files never reach a server.
What is the maximum file size?
50 MB per file. Mobile browsers may struggle with bigger files.
How do I compress a PDF to email size (under 25 MB)?
Run the lossless compressor first — many text-heavy PDFs drop under 25 MB in one pass. If the PDF is still too big, split it with our PDF splitter and send in two emails, or use desktop software for image re-encoding.
How do I compress a PDF under 1 MB?
Browser-only compression rarely hits 1 MB from a multi-megabyte scan because the images themselves need re-encoding. The realistic path: re-scan at 150 DPI instead of 300, or use Adobe Acrobat's image down-sample option.
Can I compress a scanned PDF in the browser?
Partially. The lossless cleanup pass strips metadata and re-encodes the PDF structure, but it cannot re-compress the embedded scan images. For a scanned PDF, the bigger win usually comes from re-scanning at a lower DPI.
Why is my PDF the same size after compressing?
If the PDF was already optimized, there is little fat to remove. Try the desktop tools we link below for harder cases that need image re-encoding.
Will the PDF still look the same?
Yes. This is lossless compression — text, images, and layout are unchanged. Only metadata and object stream encoding change.
Need maximum compression with image re-encoding?
For deep PDF compression including images, see Adobe Acrobat or Smallpdf Pro. Disclosure: contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Last updated: 2026-05-22