🆓 Free Online Tool

Compress PDF Online – Reduce File Size for Free

Large PDF files are a constant headache — they exceed email attachment limits, eat up cloud storage, and take forever to share. Folium's Compress PDF tool reduces your PDF file size in seconds, choosing the right balance of size vs quality based on your needs. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

✅ 100% Free 🔒 No Upload ⚡ Instant Results 📱 Works on Mobile 🚫 No Watermark
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Drop your file here
or click anywhere to browse your device
Compression Level
Processing… 0%

Why Use ItBenefits of Compress PDF

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Real Size Reduction

Metadata stripping and object stream compression deliver measurable file size savings.

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Three Quality Levels

Choose Low, Medium, or High compression to match your quality vs. size requirements.

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100% Private

Your PDF is processed entirely in your browser. No file is ever transmitted to a server.

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Instant Download

Compressed file is ready to download in seconds — no queue, no waiting.

How It Works3 Simple Steps

1

Upload Your PDF

Drop your PDF onto the upload zone or click Choose File to select from your device.

2

Choose Compression Level

Select Low for maximum quality, Medium for a balanced result (recommended for most files), or High for the smallest possible output.

3

Download Compressed PDF

Click Compress PDF. The tool shows you exactly how many bytes you saved before you download.

When to Use ItCommon Use Cases

Email Attachments

Reduce a PDF below the 10MB or 25MB limit for email providers like Gmail and Outlook.

Cloud Storage

Save space in Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive by compressing archived PDFs.

Website Uploads

Reduce PDF size before uploading to a CMS or client portal to speed up downloads.

Mobile Sharing

Compress PDFs before sending via WhatsApp, Telegram, or other messaging apps with size limits.

Privacy & SecurityYour Files Are Safe

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No upload. No storage. No tracking.

Your PDF is never uploaded. Folium's compression runs entirely in your browser using pdf-lib — it strips redundant metadata, applies object stream compression, and re-saves the file locally. No data ever leaves your device. This means your invoices, contracts, and personal documents remain completely private.

FAQFrequently Asked Questions

It depends on the file's content. PDFs heavy in metadata, redundant objects, or unoptimised structure can shrink 30–60%. Image-heavy PDFs that are already compressed may show less reduction.
Folium's browser-based compression focuses on metadata and structural optimisation rather than image re-encoding. For aggressive image recompression, the High mode provides the best results.
Yes, but scanned PDFs consist mainly of images, so the reduction may be smaller than with text-based PDFs.
No. Font data is preserved exactly. Text will look identical in the compressed version.
At Low level, yes — it's essentially lossless. At Medium and High, some metadata is stripped but visible content is preserved.

Use Folium to compress PDF files online without any upload, account, or hidden fees. Get your file under the size limit in seconds, at whatever quality level suits your needs. Free forever.