Compress PDF
Reduce PDF file size by re-saving with object streams — with honest before/after sizes.
Drop your file here, or paste it anywhere on this page
Choose PDFAccepted: PDF files (.pdf) · Max 50 MB per file · Processing happens on your device.
How Compress PDF works
- 1.Choose one or more PDFs (up to 20).
- 2.Pick Light, Balanced, Strong, or a target size.
- 3.Press Process — the file is rebuilt in your browser.
- 4.Download the smaller file. Files that cannot shrink are left out and named honestly.
Privacy
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server, never stored by PDFZova, and never shared with anyone. Closing the tab discards them. The only exception is if a future tool is explicitly labelled as server-processed — this tool is not one of those.
Frequently asked questions
Why did a file not shrink?
Files that are already optimised, or that are mostly scanned images, often cannot shrink further without visibly damaging them. PDFZova says so plainly instead of handing back the same file labelled as compressed.
Does Strong change my text?
Yes — Strong rebuilds each page as a picture, so text can no longer be selected, searched, or copied. Use Balanced if you need selectable text.
Is there a file size limit?
Yes — 50 MB per file. Very large files may also run out of memory on older phones; if that happens, try one file at a time.
Will compression lower my image quality?
Light and Balanced do not downsample images, so image quality is untouched. Strong rebuilds pages as images at a lower quality, which is why it shrinks the most.
Can I compress several PDFs at once?
Yes. Add multiple files and download the results together as a ZIP. Files that cannot shrink are left out and named honestly.
Why did my file get bigger after Strong?
Strong rebuilds pages as images, and for some files those images are larger than the original pages. When that happens the file is left out instead of being handed back bigger.
About Compress PDF
Oversized PDFs are often just badly packed. Compress PDF re-saves your document with object streams and strips its metadata, then shows you the real before-and-after sizes. If a file cannot shrink — scanned pages and already-optimised files often cannot — it says so plainly instead of faking a result, and image quality is untouched because images are never downsampled.
- Input
- One PDF file (.pdf), up to 50 MB
- Output
- A single PDF (.pdf), re-saved in a more compact form
- File limit
- 50 MB per file. Processing runs entirely in your browser — files never leave your device.
Which preset should you pick?
Light only re-saves the file, so it is the gentlest option. Balanced also removes document metadata and is the everyday choice for emailing or uploading. Strong rebuilds every page as an image for the smallest file, but text in the result can no longer be selected or searched. Custom target size tries to reach a size you set; files that would grow instead of shrink are left out and named, rather than handed back unchanged.
Why some PDFs will not shrink
Files that are already optimised, or that are mostly scanned images, often cannot shrink further without visibly damaging them. In that case PDFZova says so plainly instead of handing back the same file labelled as compressed. If the file must still be smaller, splitting it into parts and sending only the part that is needed is usually a better answer than forcing a lower quality.
What Strong changes
Strong is the only preset that changes what your pages are: each page becomes a picture, so text can no longer be selected, searched, or copied, and image quality is lower than the original. It is the right choice when file size matters more than selectable text — for example, a document that only needs to be viewed or printed. If the document will be searched, quoted, or copied from, use Balanced instead.