PDF utility
Compress PDF
Compress PDF files online for free. Reduce large PDFs for email, forms and uploads while choosing between text-preserving and stronger scanned-page compression.
- 1Choose file
- 2Set options
- 3Process
- 4Download
Compression complete
Your PDF is ready
Quick feedback
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How it works
- 1
Choose a PDF
- 2
Select text-preserving or scanned-page compression
- 3
Download and check the result
A useful thing to know
Will text stay selectable?
Text-preserving mode keeps the document structure. Scanned-page mode turns pages into images and removes selectable text, links and interactive forms. Already optimized files may not become smaller.
How we handle your dataCompress PDF guide
How PDF compression works
PDF files can become large for very different reasons. A text-heavy document may contain embedded fonts, duplicated objects or inefficient internal streams, while a scanned PDF can be large because every page is essentially a high-resolution image. That is why no single compression setting gives the same result for every file.
FileVoxa offers two approaches. Preserve text rewrites the PDF efficiently without turning normal pages into images, so searchable text and vector content have a better chance of staying intact. Scanned-page compression is intended for image-heavy or scanned documents, where reducing image quality can produce a larger size reduction.
The final file size depends on the original PDF. A document that is already optimized may shrink only a little, while a scan with oversized images can shrink much more. Always open the downloaded result and check text, charts, signatures and small print before submitting it somewhere important.
Choose the right mode
Which setting should you use?
- Reports, notes and exported documents: start with Preserve text.
- Scanned forms or photographed pages: try scanned-page compression.
- Strict upload limit: reduce quality gradually instead of jumping straight to the lowest setting.
- Important originals: keep the source PDF until you have checked the compressed copy.
Compression can change image quality and may affect some advanced PDF features. FileVoxa processes the selected file in your browser and lets you download the result to your device.
Common PDF compression questions
Why did my PDF barely get smaller? It may already be optimized or contain mostly text and vector graphics. Will compression make text blurry? Preserve text is designed to avoid rasterizing normal text; scanned text is part of an image and can soften when image quality is reduced. Can I target an exact file size? PDF compression is content-dependent, so an exact output size cannot be guaranteed in one pass. If a portal has a strict limit, compress, check the result, and adjust the setting if needed.