How to Compress a PDF (Without Losing Quality)

PDF files have a habit of being bigger than they should be. Scanned documents, exported presentations, forms with embedded images — they all bloat. If you've hit an email attachment limit or tried to upload a PDF to a form that rejected it, you need to compress it. Here's how to do it in under a minute, free, with no software to install.

How to Compress a PDF — Step by Step

Step 1: Open the tool

Go to MyTools — PDF Compressor in your browser. No account or installation needed.

The upload screen — drag your PDF in or click "Browse files"

Step 2: Upload your PDF

Drag your PDF onto the upload zone, or click Browse files and select it from your device. You can add multiple files at once if you need to compress a batch.

Step 3: Choose a compression level

Three levels to pick from — Recommended works for most files

Once your file is loaded, pick a compression level:

• Screen — smallest possible file, optimised for on-screen reading. Good for sharing via messaging apps or web uploads.
• Recommended — the default. Balances quality and size well. Works for email, cloud storage, and most everyday uses.
• Print — near-original quality with modest size reduction. Use this when you need to print the result and clarity matters.

For most situations, leave it on Recommended and click Compress PDF.

Step 4: Download the result

The result screen shows original size, new size, and how much was saved

Once compression finishes, you'll see the original size, the new size, and the percentage saved. Click Download to save the compressed file. If you compressed multiple files, a Download all as ZIP option appears.

Tips & Troubleshooting

The file barely got smaller. PDFs that are mostly text compress less than image-heavy ones — text is already compact. If your file is primarily scanned images and the reduction is still low, try the Screen level.

I need to stay under a specific file size. Start with Recommended. If the result is still too large, re-upload and switch to Screen. For very large files (presentations with lots of photos), Screen can cut size by 70–80%.

I need to do more with the PDF. Check out the PDF merger if you need to combine multiple files first, or the PDF rotator if pages are the wrong orientation before you compress.

Compressing a PDF takes seconds and doesn't require handing your file to anyone — it all happens locally in your browser. Try the PDF compressor for free →