Compress a PDF to under 2 MB

Add the PDF and run it. The compressor first tries text-safe optimisation, which keeps text selectable. If the file is still over 2 MB, it re-renders the pages as images and searches for the highest resolution and quality that lands under 2 MB. If 2 MB can't be reached at readable quality, it tells you the smallest size it managed.

1. 01Add the PDF. The 2 MB target is already set.
2. 02Run it and read the result size and method.
3. 03If the target was impossible, delete pages you don't need or split the file.
4. 04Open the result and read the smallest text before you submit.

Job portals, university admissions and many government services cap each uploaded PDF at around 2 MB. A handful of phone-scanned pages, or a single page scanned at high resolution, goes over easily, because every page is stored as a large photo.

Text-safe mode alone rarely shrinks a scan much, because the pages already are photos. When it isn't enough, pages are re-rendered as JPEG images at the best quality that fits. The text in that result can no longer be selected or searched, and forms, links and bookmarks are removed. The result panel says which method was used.

• Typed documents usually fit 2 MB without rasterizing.
• Far over 2 MB? Delete pages you don't need or split the file first.

This page aims at 2,000,000 bytes or less. Upload forms disagree on what 2 MB means: some count 2,000,000 bytes, others 2,097,152 (1 MB = 1,024 × 1,024 bytes). A file of 2,000,000 bytes or less passes either rule, so you can type the limit exactly as the form writes it. The result shows the exact byte count. Windows File Explorer counts in 1,024s, so the same file can read slightly smaller there.