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PDF Compressor

Make a PDF smaller in your browser — choose lossless or re-encode the images. Never uploaded.

  • Browser-based
  • Private
  • Free
Re-encodes images at print-quality resolution. Good for most documents.

Files

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Preview

Add a PDF to see the before and after here.

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Drop a PDF to begin

The document is compressed on your device, by your own browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged — which matters, because the PDFs people need to shrink are the ones they are about to email: contracts, scans, bank statements and medical records.

What compression can and cannot do

In most PDFs the great majority of the bytes are embedded images, so that is where the savings are. Lossless rebuilds the file and drops leftover revisions without altering a single image — safe, but usually only a few percent. Balanced and Smallest re-encode the images, which is what actually shrinks a scanned document, and does cost some detail. A PDF that is mostly text will barely shrink at any level, because there was never much to remove.

How to use the PDF Compressor

  1. Add your PDF

    Drop it in or browse for it. Its size and page count are read straight away, without loading the PDF library.

  2. Choose a level

    Lossless keeps every image exactly as it is. Balanced suits most documents. Smallest is for email attachment limits.

  3. Press Compress

    The PDF library loads at this point and the work happens in your browser. A large scan takes a few seconds.

  4. Check the result, then download

    You see the before and after size and what was re-encoded. If it did not shrink enough, try a stronger level and compress again.

Key features

  • Never uploaded

    The document is read into this tab and compressed there. Nothing is transmitted, stored or logged.

  • Lossless or lossy, your choice

    Rebuild the file without touching a pixel, or re-encode the images where the real savings are.

  • Awkward images left alone

    Fax, JPEG 2000 and transparency masks are skipped rather than mangled — and the count is shown.

  • Never returns a bigger file

    If a document is already optimised you get the original back, not something larger called compressed.

  • Page count read instantly

    The size and page count appear as soon as you add the file, before any heavy library loads.

  • Honest numbers

    Before, after and the percentage saved — including when the answer is that nothing could be saved.

Your data never leaves your device

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or logged by BeeTools.

About the PDF Compressor

Compress a PDF without sending it anywhere. Drop in a document, choose how hard to try, and get a smaller file back — all inside this browser tab.

Most of a PDF is usually not text. In a scanned contract or a photo-heavy report, embedded images routinely account for 70% or more of the file, which is why a compressor that only tidies the structure saves a couple of percent and no more. This tool offers both, and says which is which. Lossless rebuilds the document and discards the leftover revisions that editing leaves behind, without altering a single image. Balanced and Smallest re-encode those images at a sensible resolution, which is what actually turns a 40 MB scan into something you can email.

Every image it cannot read confidently — a JPEG 2000 scan, a fax-encoded page, a transparency mask — is left exactly as it was and reported, rather than quietly mangled. If the result would be larger than what you started with, which happens with documents that are already optimised, you get your original back instead of a bigger file wearing the word "compressed".

The whole operation happens on your device. The PDFs people need to shrink are the ones they are about to attach to an email: contracts, bank statements, scanned passports, medical records. Most free PDF sites take that file, upload it to a server, process it there and email you a link. This one reads the file from your disk into the page and never transmits it — no account, no watermark, no daily limit.

Frequently asked questions

Is my document uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is read from your disk into this browser tab and compressed there using pdf-lib and your browser’s own image encoder, both running as ordinary JavaScript on the page. Nothing is sent to a server — you can confirm it by opening your browser’s network tab, or by disconnecting from the internet after the page has loaded and compressing anyway.

How much smaller will my PDF get?

It depends almost entirely on what is inside it. A scanned document or a report full of photographs can lose 50–90% at the Balanced level, because embedded images are the bulk of the file. A PDF that is mostly text will barely move at any level — often only 1–3% — because there was very little to remove in the first place. The tool tells you the real figure rather than a promise.

Does compressing lose quality?

At the Lossless level, no: the file is rebuilt and leftover revisions are discarded, but every image is copied across untouched and text stays selectable. Balanced and Smallest do re-encode images, which is lossy — that is exactly where the large savings come from. Text and vector graphics are never re-rendered at any level, so a document stays searchable.

Why were some images not compressed?

Some image formats inside PDFs cannot be decoded safely in a browser — JPEG 2000, JBIG2 and CCITT fax among them — and some images are transparency masks, where lossy re-encoding produces visible halos. Those are left exactly as they were and counted in the result, because quietly wrecking the one scanned signature page in a contract would be far worse than saving a little less.

Can it compress a password-protected PDF?

No. An encrypted document cannot be opened without its password, and this tool never asks for one. Remove the password in your PDF reader first — in most readers that is a matter of opening the file and re-saving it — then compress the unlocked copy.

Why did my file not get any smaller?

Because it was already optimised. Documents produced by good tooling have already had their structure compacted and their images encoded efficiently, and there is nothing left to take out. When the result would be larger than the original, the tool hands back your original file rather than a bigger one labelled compressed.

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