Compress PDF — Reduce File Size Online
Compress PDF files online for free. Reduce PDF size without losing quality. No signup needed.
Reduce the size of any PDF file for free — no signup, no watermarks, no file size limits on the output. PDFFlare's PDF compressor uses Ghostscript, the same professional-grade engine trusted by print shops and publishers, to optimize images, strip unused metadata, and compress internal streams. The result is a significantly smaller file that looks virtually identical to the original.
Large PDF files are a common headache. Email providers cap attachments at 20-25 MB, web forms often reject files over 5 MB, and cloud storage fills up quickly with uncompressed scans. PDFFlare solves this by reducing file sizes by up to 80% while keeping text razor-sharp and images clear. Upload your PDF, compress it in seconds, and download a lighter version that is easy to email, upload, or store.
After compressing, you can use Merge PDF to combine multiple compressed files into one document, or Password Protect PDF to add encryption before sharing sensitive files.
Drop your PDF file here
PDF files up to 50 MB
How to Compress PDF Files
Upload your PDF file
Click the upload area or drag and drop the PDF you want to compress. Files up to 50 MB are supported.
Compress your PDF
Click the 'Compress PDF' button. Our server optimizes images, removes unused objects, and reduces the file size while maintaining readability.
Download the compressed file
Your smaller PDF is ready in seconds. Download it instantly and see the before-and-after file size comparison.
When Do You Need to Compress a PDF?
Email attachments: Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo all limit attachments to 20-25 MB. If your PDF exceeds this limit, compression can shrink it to a sendable size without splitting the document or using a file-sharing service.
Online form submissions: Government portals, university applications, and job sites often enforce strict file size limits — sometimes as low as 2 MB. Compressing your PDF ensures your submission goes through on the first try.
Scanned documents: A single scanned page can be 5-10 MB because scanners save each page as a high-resolution image. A 20-page scanned document can easily reach 100 MB. Compression reduces these files dramatically while keeping the text legible.
Website and cloud storage: Uploading large PDFs to your website slows down page loads and wastes bandwidth. Compressing PDFs before uploading keeps your site fast and reduces storage costs on services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.
Why Use PDFFlare to Compress PDFs?
Powerful Compression
Our server-side engine uses Ghostscript to optimize images, strip unused metadata, and compress streams — reducing file sizes by up to 80%.
Maintains Quality
Text, fonts, and vector graphics stay perfectly sharp. Images are intelligently resampled to preserve visual clarity while shrinking file size.
Instant Results
Upload, compress, and download in seconds. See exactly how much space you saved with a clear before-and-after file size comparison.
No Signup Required
Start compressing immediately — no account, no email, no watermarks. Just drop your file and get a smaller PDF.