How to compress a PDF so it fits in an email
Email limits sit around 25 MB and scan-heavy PDFs blow past that. Here's how to shrink a PDF in your browser without wrecking the quality or uploading it.
Email attachments usually cap out around 25 MB, and a PDF full of scans or photos blows past that fast. Here's how to get it under the limit without turning your text into mush.
Why PDFs get so big
Most of the weight is images. A PDF that's mostly text stays small. One with scanned pages or high-resolution photos can easily hit 20, 50, even 100 MB, because every page is basically a picture. Compression shrinks those images and drops data you don't need, while leaving the text sharp.
How to do it
- Open Compress PDF and pick your file.
- Start with the medium setting. It usually cuts the size by more than half, and you won't see the difference on screen.
- Download it and check the new size. Still too big? Run it again on a stronger setting.
The file is processed on your own machine, so you can do this with a payslip or a contract without it landing on someone's server.
A few things to expect
- If the PDF is mostly text, there isn't much to compress. It's already small.
- Heavy compression softens images. That's fine for a quick share, less ideal if someone needs to zoom into a diagram.
- Scanned documents shrink the most, since the scan is what's eating the space.
Gmail and Outlook both cut off around 25 MB. Medium compression usually clears that in one pass.
Compress a PDF here. Free, no sign-up, and the file never leaves your device.
Try the tool
Do it now — free, in your browser, nothing uploaded.