Resize PDF file size to fit the limit a form sets
PDFCheetah's free Resize PDF tool brings a PDF's file size under the KB or MB limit a form sets in your browser — every page keeps its own size — and your file never leaves your device.
Updated
Choose a PDF file to resize
One file · up to 80 MB · PDF bytes are checked on this device
Processed on this device
Selecting and processing files stays in this browser.
Checking offline readiness
Offline availability is confirmed after this tool loads.
Why there is no daily limit, and no upload
How to resize a PDF's file size
- Choose the size your form or site asks for — under 20 KB up to under 10 MB — from the size menu. Opening a PDF first works too.
- Open the PDF. PDFCheetah checks what is inside it on this device.
- Read what it expects: whether the file should fit, may just fit, or cannot get under that size, and why.
- Select Make this PDF smaller, then Download. The size shown is the size of the file you save.
What resizing changes, and what it does not
Resizing here means the file’s size in KB or MB: what an upload form checks. The pages stay exactly the size they were — an A4 page is still A4, a Letter page still Letter — and nothing is cropped or stretched. What gets smaller is the pictures inside: scanned pages and photos are saved again at lower quality, one step at a time, only as far as the size you chose needs. Text stays text, ordinary links within the PDF or to websites keep working, and a file already under the size is handed back untouched. A resized copy loses what could run or reach outside the PDF: scripts, the actions behind Submit buttons, links into other files, embedded video, sound and 3D, and attached files.
If you meant the page size
This page does not change page size, scale pages to A4 or Letter, or change the margins. To fit every page onto A4 or US Letter paper, use PDF to A4.
Current limitations
A PDF whose size comes from text and fonts rather than pictures barely gets smaller, and a long scan may not reach a small size at all; you are told before anything runs when the size looks out of reach. Pictures stored losslessly, as some scanner apps save them, are left as they are. A password-protected PDF needs Unlock PDF first. Everything happens in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Common questions
- Is my PDF uploaded to resize it?
- No. The PDF is read and made smaller in your browser, and the new file is written on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
- Does resizing change the page size?
- No. Resize PDF changes the file's size in KB or MB, which is what upload forms check. Every page keeps its size, so an A4 page stays A4, and nothing is cropped or stretched.
- Which sizes can I resize a PDF to?
- Under 20 KB, 50 KB, 100 KB, 150 KB, 200 KB, 300 KB, 400 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 5 MB or 10 MB. A kilobyte is counted as 1,000 bytes, so a file under the size passes a form that counts either way.
- Will every PDF fit the size I choose?
- Not every one. A short scan or a photo of a page usually gets there, but a long scan may not reach a small size, and a PDF that is large because of its fonts barely shrinks. You are told before anything runs when the size looks out of reach.
- Is anything removed besides picture detail?
- Yes: what could run or reach outside the PDF. JavaScript, actions that run when the file opens or when a form field is used, the actions behind Submit buttons, links into other files, embedded video, sound and 3D, and attached files are taken out of the resized copy, as most tools here take them out. Text, bookmarks, ordinary links within the PDF or to websites, and form fields with their values are kept. A dynamic (XFA) form is kept whole, its own scripts included, because removing them would empty the form. A file already under the size, or one that would only get smaller by losing these, comes back as your original, unchanged.