Compress PDF
Shrink PDF files under 2MB for email, forms, and portals — right in your browser. No upload, no sign-up, no server processing. Free forever.
Your file
Compression level
Best for scanned or image-heavy PDFs. Text-only files may not shrink much because pages are re-encoded as images for size.
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When to use this tool
- Shrink phone scans before emailing.
- Meet government or university portal file-size caps.
- Reduce photo-heavy PDFs for Slack/Teams limits.
- Prepare lighter attachments for job applications.
- Archive bulk receipts with smaller disk footprint.
Related guides
How to compress pdf
- Drop a PDF into the browser drop zone (it never uploads).
- Pick Strong, Balanced, or Light compression.
- Click Compress PDF — each page is re-encoded locally.
- Download the smaller file and check the size summary.
FAQ
How does browser PDF compression work? +
LocalPDF renders each page, encodes it as JPEG at your chosen quality, and rebuilds a new PDF — all in your tab.
Will every PDF get smaller? +
Scanned/image-heavy PDFs usually shrink a lot. Text-only vector PDFs may shrink little or even grow slightly because pages become images.
Is compress private? +
Yes. No file upload. Processing uses pdf.js + pdf-lib on your device.
Which level should I pick? +
Balanced for email/forms; Strong for max size reduction; Light when quality matters more than size.
Can I hit under 2MB? +
Often yes for scans with Strong/Balanced, depending on page count and original resolution. Try Strong if still too large.
Does compression need an account? +
No. Free, no sign-up, no watermark from LocalPDF.
Why is processing slower than merge? +
Each page is rendered and re-encoded. Large page counts take longer on modest devices.
Why use a no-upload PDF tool?
Most free PDF websites ask you to upload contracts, IDs, and invoices to unknown servers. Even if they delete files later, the transfer itself is a privacy risk — and some sites inject watermarks or hard limits.
LocalPDF runs entirely in your browser with open libraries. Your file is never posted to our origin. That also means lower cost for us, so the core tools can stay free while we expand.
Looking for another tool? Try Split PDF, Merge PDF, Rotate PDF, or Watermark PDF.