PDF compressor
Compress PDF to any size
Most PDF compressors give you three buttons -- low, recommended, extreme -- and whatever size comes out is the size you get. This one takes the number instead. Tell it 200KB and it rewrites the file losslessly first, measures the result, and only rasterises the pages if lossless could not reach your target. Nothing is uploaded: there is no server here to upload to.
Takes Any PDF, up to 300 pages
2Add your file
Video, images and PDFs, all compressed on your own machine. No upload, no account, no watermark, no limit on how many files.
Why this one
What this does that an upload-based PDF compressor cannot
Three differences, each of them a consequence of where the work happens rather than a feature that could be added.
A number, not three named levels
Low, recommended and extreme are what you offer when you cannot afford to encode the file more than once. Nothing is uploaded here, so your own machine can try it as many times as it takes to land on the size you asked for.
Nothing is uploaded, ever
There is no server in this product. The file is read, compressed and handed back inside this browser tab, which is why there is no queue, no account, and no deletion policy to trust -- nothing was ever sent.
Measured, not estimated
The finished file is weighed at every attempt, and what you are given is the best result actually observed under your limit -- not the one a formula predicted would fit.
Pick your number
Compress PDF to an exact size
Each of these is this same tool with the target already set. If the size you need is not here, type it.
Mechanism
How it hits the number
Four steps. The byte count is measured at every one of them.
- 01
The document is opened in your browser
Page count and size are read locally. A PDF is often the most sensitive thing anyone compresses -- a payslip, a passport scan, a medical form -- and this one does not leave the machine it is on.
- 02
Lossless first, and it is measured
The file is rewritten with object streams and duplicated resources dropped. If that alone clears your target, that is what you get: text still selectable, search still working, glyphs still sharp at any zoom.
- 03
Rasterising is the last resort
Only if lossless was not enough is each page rendered to an image. That reaches any target and it is permanent -- Ctrl+F finds nothing afterwards -- so you are told before it happens rather than after.
- 04
Scale is searched before quality
Too few pixels reads as a modest scan, while heavy JPEG on text edges reads as something being broken. Render scale is bisected first, and the best result measured under your target is the one that ships.
Alternatives
How it compares
Both of these are good products with more tools than this one. The comparison is about where your file goes and whether you can name a target size.
- vs iLovePDFiLovePDF compresses PDFs on its servers using three preset levels -- Extreme, Recommended and Less -- and has no field for a target file size. CompressToFit compresses in your browser and takes the exact number of kilobytes you need to hit.Checked 10 Oct 2026
- vs SmallpdfSmallpdf compresses PDFs on its servers at three levels -- Basic, Moderate and Strong -- with the two stronger levels reserved for its Pro plan, and deletes uploaded files after an hour. CompressToFit runs entirely in the browser, takes an exact target size, and has no paid tier.Checked 10 Oct 2026
- vs Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat's online compressor offers High, Medium and Low levels with no target size, uploads the file to Adobe servers, and its own page says unlimited compression requires a paid Acrobat plan. CompressToFit runs in the browser, takes an exact figure, and has no paid tier.Checked 15 Oct 2026
Questions
Compressing PDF
- Is this PDF compressor really free?
- Yes, with no tier above it. Compression runs on your own hardware, so a file costs us nothing to process -- there is no bandwidth bill and no server time to recover, and therefore nothing to ration. Unlimited files, no account, no watermark, no daily cap, and no "upgrade to unlock stronger compression", because the strongest setting was never being withheld.
- Where does my file go?
- Nowhere. It is read, compressed and handed back inside this browser tab using your machine's own encoders. There is no server in this product to send it to, which is a different claim from "we delete your files after an hour" -- nothing was uploaded, so there is nothing to delete and no retention policy you have to take on trust.
- Is there a file size limit on the PDF I can compress?
- Not one we impose -- there is no upload to cap. The practical ceiling is your own machine's memory, which in a current browser means files far larger than anything you are likely to be compressing. Targets run from 50KB up to 5MB as one-click presets, and you can type any number in between.
- Do I have to sign up or install anything?
- No. There is no account, no email, no extension and no desktop installer -- the page you are reading is the whole application. It works offline once loaded, because at that point everything it needs is already in the browser.
- Is shrinking a PDF the same as compressing it?
- Yes. Shrink, compress and reduce the file size all name one job here: making the file smaller in bytes while it still works as a PDF. The word that means something else is resize -- changing the page geometry, which is a different operation and almost never what a size limit is asking for. This tool is pointed at the byte count. You give it the number and it gets there by whichever route costs the least quality, which sometimes means rendering the pages at a lower scale and always means the result is measured rather than assumed.
- Will the text still be selectable afterwards?
- If the lossless pass reaches your target, yes -- the text, the search index and the accessibility tree are all untouched. If it does not, hitting the number requires rendering the pages to images, which ends selectable text permanently. You are told which of the two happened, and warned before anything is rasterised rather than after.
Other files
Holding something else?
The same tool, and the same guarantee. Each family reaches your number a different way, because each has a different dial to turn.
Background
Worth reading
The arithmetic behind the number, and what to do when it will not fit.
- Compressing a scanned PDFA scan has no text to protect, so the usual lossless pass saves almost nothing. What is left is a resolution decision — and there is a right way to make it.
- Compressing a PDF for an online formPortals demand documents under 100KB, 200KB or 500KB and reject anything over without saying by how much. Here is how to hit the number and keep it readable.
- Compressing a PDF without AcrobatAcrobat's "Reduce File Size" is three presets with no target field. Here is what those presets do, and how to get the same result without a subscription.