Compress PDF
Shrink a PDF to fit email and upload limits. Photos and scans are re-compressed; text stays sharp and searchable. Your file never leaves your device.
How to compress a PDF
- Choose your PDF, or drag it onto the box above.
- Pick how much to compress. Start with Recommended; use Strong if the file still needs to be smaller.
- Select Compress PDF. StaplePDF shows how much smaller the file got, and you download the result.
What gets smaller
Most large PDFs are large because of photos and scanned pages, often stored at far higher resolution than any screen or printer needs. StaplePDF re-saves those images at a sensible resolution and keeps each one only if it really gets smaller. It also compresses any parts of the file stored without compression and removes leftover data nothing uses. Text, fonts and drawings aren't touched, so they stay crisp and searchable.
A PDF that's mostly text is usually small already, and may not shrink much. StaplePDF tells you rather than giving you a file that isn't any smaller.
Questions
Is my file uploaded to compress it?
No. The whole job runs in your browser, on your device. The file isn't sent anywhere.
Will it keep bookmarks, links and form fields?
Yes. Only images are changed; the rest of the document stays as it was.
Can I compress a password-protected PDF?
Yes. Enter the password when asked. The compressed copy won't have a password.