Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Home / How to Reduce Pdf File Size in Windows 10

How to Reduce Pdf File Size in Windows 10

Download Article

Download Article

This wikiHow teaches you how to make a PDF smaller using a PC or Mac. Adobe, the developers of the PDF file format, provide a free web-based tool that makes it super easy to compress PDFs into smaller files. If you're using a Mac, you can skip the upload and use the Preview app to shrink your file. Or, if you have the professional version of Adobe Acrobat DC, you can use its PDF optimizer to produce a smaller file. All of these apps reduce PDF file sizes by decreasing image and (sometimes) text quality, so keep that in mind when compressing your files.

Need help creating, merging, or converting PDF files? Try wikiHow's PDF Toolkit, a free and easy-to-use custom tool to help you be more productive with your documents.

  1. 1

  2. 2

    Click the Select a file button. This opens your computer's file browser.

    • Alternatively, you can drag the PDF file to the button to begin uploading the file.

    Advertisement

  3. 3

    Select your PDF file and click Open . This uploads your PDF to the server.

  4. 4

    Select a compression level. The level you select determines how much the file will be compressed, which in turn determines the file's new size.

    • The default option, Medium compression, is a good option for files containing images and text. The image quality may reduce a bit to make the file smaller, but the quality will still be pretty good.
    • If you want to make the smallest PDF possible, select High compression. This option will definitely reduce the quality of the file, and images won't look too good. But if you're not concerned about image quality and you need a much smaller file, this is the option for you.
    • Low compression compresses the file by just a small amount, preserving the quality of images and other details. The file size will reduce slightly, but not by much.

  5. 5

    Click the Compress button. This starts the compression process. When the compression is complete, you'll see a success message, as well as the size of the newly-compressed file alongside its previous size.

  6. 6

    Click Download to save the compressed file. This saves the smaller version of your PDF to your computer.

    Advertisement

  1. 1

    Open a PDF in the Preview app. You can do this by double-clicking the PDF. If it opens in a different app, close that app, right-click the PDF, select Open with, and select Preview.

  2. 2

    Click the File menu. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

  3. 3

    Click Export… on the menu. Make sure you select Export and not Export as PDF.[1]

  4. 4

    Click the "Format" menu and select PDF . If this option is already selected, you can skip this step.

  5. 5

    Click the "Quartz Filter" menu and select Reduce File Size . This reduces the overall file size.

    • Reducing the file size can degrade the quality of the PDF, especially if there are images.
    • If you still want to keep the larger version of the PDF as an original, you can save this smaller version with a different name. Just type the word "smaller" just before the ".pdf" in the file name at the top of the window.

  6. 6

    Select a location in which to save the PDF.

  7. 7

    Click the Save button. This saves the new smaller version of your PDF.

    Advertisement

  1. 1

    Open Adobe Acrobat Pro. If you want to reduce the size of a PDF without sacrificing much quality, you can use Adobe Acrobat Pro. If you have Acrobat Pro, you'll find it in your Windows Start menu or on your Mac's Launchpad.

    • If you don't have the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can sign up for a free trial or try Adobe's free online PDF compressor.

  2. 2

    Click the Tools tab. It's at the top of Acrobat.[2]

  3. 3

    Click Optimize PDF . You'll see this red file icon under the "Protect and Standardize" header.

  4. 4

    Select the PDF you want to shrink. This opens the PDF in Acrobat.

  5. 5

    Click either Reduce File Size . This option is in the toolbar that's just above your PDF.

    • Depending on your version of Acrobat, you may see an option called Compress PDF instead. Click that if you see it.

  6. 6

    Select a location in which to save the image. You can also give the PDF a new name if you'd like.

  7. 7

    Click Save . The smaller PDF is now saved to your computer.

    Advertisement

Add New Question

  • Question

    How do I reduce the file size without using third party software?

    Community Answer

    Using the 'Reduce File Size' option does not greatly reduce the size. If you need to make it much smaller, use the "EXPORT TO" option to convert the PDF to a JPEG or any other image. Once it is an image, use the "PRINT TO PDF" option to send it back to PDF format. It will be much smaller. Be aware that some quality will be sacrificed.

  • Question

    How do I reduce a scanned PDF file to 1 MB or less for uploading?

    Community Answer

    It is difficult to achieve a specific target. Try using a website such as miniimagesvideos.com/pdf ; you can run multiple iterations on this website. The size will be dependent on the scanned images size/quality.

  • Question

    How do I reduce the file size without using third party software?

    Community Answer

    If you are using a Windows computer, go to the picture in the file explorer and choose edit, usually a choice in the menu after you right click the mouse on a Windows platform. This should take you into the Paint program where you can reduce the size.

  • Question

    How do I reduce the size of a merged file in PDF Expert 5?

    Community Answer

    If you right-click on the file, one of the options is "Reduce Size." After you click on it, a box allowing you to select the size appears.

  • Question

    I have a scanned copy of a document saved on my desktop. I need to upload it onto a Dot website. It refuses as says the file size must not exceed 5 MB. Mine is approx 11Mb.

    Neelam Jain

    Neelam Jain

    Community Answer

    There are multiple options which you could use to reduce the size of PDF. 1) If you have acrobat writer you can select the DPI for images in your PDF. Generally, as DPI of 145 is good enough for PDF. 2) Compress images before adding them to PDF. For e.g. there are multiple website like miniimagesvideos.com which can be used to compress images. Post compression of images the same can be added to PDF. 3) Compress PDF with some online website. There are multiple website which can be used to compress images to specific DPI. 4) Upload your PDF to online website like miniimagesvideos.com/pdf for automated selection of DPI inside your PDF.

  • Question

    How can I reduce 5.6 m to be 2.5m?

    Darko

    You will need a PDF reducer with a high compression ratio. Be aware the more you reduce your PDF, the lower quality you will get. With GorillaPDF compressor you can reduce your PDF by 90%.

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

wikiHow Video: How to Reduce PDF File Size

About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Go to https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/compress-pdf.html.
2. Drag the PDF to the "Select a file" box.
3. Select a compression level.
4. Click Compress.
5. Click Download.

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 7,579,290 times.

Is this article up to date?

How to Reduce Pdf File Size in Windows 10

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Reduce-PDF-File-Size