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How to Compress a PDF for Email and Upload Forms (to 100KB, 200KB, 500KB)
Shrink a PDF to meet email limits and application-form size caps. Keep text selectable or hit an exact KB target.
Email attachments cap out at around 20–25 MB, and many online forms accept PDFs only up to 100 KB, 200 KB or 500 KB. A scanned multi-page PDF can easily be 20 MB. Here is how to get it down without making it unreadable.
Why PDFs get so big
Almost always the culprit is images: scanned pages and embedded photos. Text is tiny. Compressing the images inside a PDF is where nearly all the savings come from.
How to compress a PDF
- Open Compress PDF and drop in your file.
- Choose a compression level, or type a target size such as 200 KB.
- Click compress and download the smaller PDF.
Compress PDF
Compress a PDF free — nothing is uploaded.
Ready-made targets for common limits
Tips for hitting a very small size
- Remove pages you do not need with Delete PDF Pages.
- Scan in black and white rather than color when the document allows it.
- Split a very long PDF into two with Split PDF if the form accepts several files.
Frequently asked questions
Will compressing a PDF make the text unreadable?
Normal compression mainly reduces the images, so text stays sharp. Extremely small targets can blur scanned pages.
How do I compress a PDF to 200KB?
Use the Compress PDF tool and enter 200 KB as the target size, or open the dedicated 200KB page.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression runs entirely in your browser.
