Reduce PDF size without losing quality
Starts on the “Higher quality” setting: photos are re-encoded gently and text is left alone. Nothing is uploaded.
Drop a PDF here
Or click to choose one file. It stays in this tab.
BrowseHow to shrink a PDF and keep it sharp
- Drop your PDF above. Higher quality is already selected.
- Click Compress and compare the sizes shown.
- Download it and zoom in on a photo or two. If it looks the same to you, you are done. If you need it smaller, try Balanced.
An honest note on “without losing quality”
A PDF is made of text, fonts, vector drawings and images. FilesStay never touches the first three: text stays selectable and crisp at any zoom. Images are where the size is, and making images smaller always throws some detail away. “Higher quality” keeps that loss small: JPEG quality 78% and images up to 2,200 pixels on their long side, which is more than most screens and printers can show on a normal page.
So the honest version is: no visible loss for most people, on most files. If you need a bit-for-bit identical copy, do not compress it.
When it helps the most
- Scans made at a very high resolution, such as 600 dpi.
- PDFs built from phone photos, which are often 12 megapixels or more each.
- Presentations exported with full-size images.
If the PDF is mostly text, the size may hardly change. That is normal: text is already compact. The tool will say so instead of pretending.
The file is processed in your browser. Your original stays as it is, and the new copy is downloaded with “-compressed” added to its name.
Questions
Is this lossless compression?
Not for images. Text, fonts and drawings are kept exactly; photos are re-encoded at a high JPEG quality. Images that would not get smaller are left as they are.
Which setting gives the best quality?
“Higher quality”. “Balanced” and “Smaller file” lower JPEG quality and image size further.