You have a PDF that is too big to email or upload. You search for a free PDF compressor and find many options. They look alike, but they do not work the same way. Some upload your file to their servers. Some keep the text in your PDF, and some turn every page into a picture. Some limit how much you can do for free.
This article looks at five well-known free options: our own tool at FreeToolPoint, iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat online and PDF24. We made FreeToolPoint, so we are not neutral. To be fair, we describe exactly how our tool works and what it loses, and we say plainly when another type of tool is the better choice.
Free plans, prices and limits change often. We do not list numbers for other services here. Check the current terms on each service's own website before you rely on them.
First: Two Ways to Compress a PDF
This matters more than the name of the tool.
- Optimize the file. The tool shrinks the pictures inside the PDF, trims the fonts and removes data that is not needed. The text stays as text. You can still select it, copy it and search it. Links usually keep working.
- Turn each page into a picture. The tool draws every page as a JPEG image and builds a new PDF from those images. This can shrink scanned pages a lot. But the text can no longer be selected or searched, and links, bookmarks, form fields and digital signatures are lost. A PDF that is mostly typed text may not get smaller at all.
FreeToolPoint offers both. Its default mode, Keep text, shrinks only the images and keeps the text. Its second mode turns every page into a picture. Many other compressors, including the optimize or reduce-size features in desktop PDF programs, are built to keep the text. Whatever tool you use, open the result and try to select a word. That quick test tells you which kind of file you got.
Quick Comparison Table
| Tool | Where your file goes | Text kept as text? | Free use | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeToolPoint | Stays on your device | Yes in Keep text mode (the default). No in Turn pages into images mode. | Free, no account, one PDF at a time | Scans and photo-heavy PDFs you do not want to upload |
| iLovePDF | Uploaded to their servers | Usually. Check your result. | Free plan with limits. See their site. | Many PDF tasks in one place |
| Smallpdf | Uploaded to their servers | Usually. Check your result. | Free plan with limits. See their site. | An easy, all-in-one PDF suite |
| Adobe Acrobat online | Uploaded to Adobe's servers | Usually. Check your result. | Some free use. See their site. | People who already use Adobe products |
| PDF24 | Online tool: uploaded. Windows desktop app: stays on your computer. | Usually. Check your result. | Free. See their site for details. | Windows users who want a free desktop program |
The Tools One by One
1. FreeToolPoint PDF Compressor
Our tool runs in your browser. When the page loads, it also loads two open-source libraries, pdf.js and pdf-lib. After that, all the work happens on your device. Your PDF is not uploaded to FreeToolPoint or anyone else.
Here is how it compresses. It has two modes:
- Keep text — shrink images only (default). It finds the photos inside the PDF, scales down the ones that have more pixels than they need for their size on the page, and saves them again as JPEGs. Everything else is copied as it is: text, fonts, links, bookmarks and form fields. It does not trim fonts or remove other data.
- Turn pages into images. It draws each page on a hidden canvas, saves the page as a JPEG image, and builds a new PDF with one image per page.
In both modes you pick one of four levels: Screen (54 pixels per inch, 22% JPEG quality), eBook (72 pixels per inch, 55%), Printer (108 pixels per inch, 78%) or Prepress (144 pixels per inch, 92%). eBook is the default. In Keep text mode the levels apply only to the photos.
What this means for you:
- Good at: scanned documents and PDFs full of photos. These often shrink a lot.
- Not good at: PDFs that are mostly typed text. They shrink very little. If the new file is not smaller, the tool tells you and gives you your original back. Keep text mode also leaves CMYK print images and some less common image types as they were.
- What you lose: in Keep text mode, detail in the photos and valid digital signatures. In Turn pages into images mode, at every level: selectable and searchable text, links, bookmarks, form fields, and valid digital signatures. Screen readers cannot read that file.
- Other limits: one PDF at a time. PDFs that ask for a password to open are not supported, and Keep text mode does not work on any protected (encrypted) PDF. Very long files can be slow, most of all on a phone.
There is no signup, no watermark and no daily limit. Keep text mode is a good fit when people need to read, search or fill in the document. Turn pages into images is a good fit when they only need to see the pages. Neither mode keeps a digital signature valid.
2. iLovePDF
iLovePDF is a well-known online PDF suite. Besides compressing, it offers many other PDF tools in one place, such as merging, splitting and converting. Its compressor lets you choose between compression levels.
Your files are uploaded to iLovePDF's servers for processing. The free plan has limits, and paid plans remove some of them. Read their privacy policy to see how long they keep files, and check their site for the current free limits.
3. Smallpdf
Smallpdf is another popular online PDF suite. It is known for a simple, clean design and offers many PDF tools besides compression.
Like iLovePDF, it uploads your files to its servers. Its free plan is limited, and it is mainly built around a paid subscription. Check their website for the current free limits and prices, and their privacy policy for how long files are kept.
4. Adobe Acrobat online
Adobe created the PDF format, and Acrobat is its main PDF product. Adobe offers a free online compressor as part of its Acrobat online tools.
Your file is uploaded to Adobe's servers. Some free use is available, but you may be asked to sign in or to subscribe for more. If you already pay for Acrobat, the desktop program also has its own features for making files smaller, which you may prefer.
5. PDF24
PDF24 offers free online PDF tools, including a compressor. The online tools upload your file to their servers, like the other online services here.
PDF24 also has a free desktop program for Windows. The desktop program works on your own computer, so your files do not need to be uploaded. For Windows users who compress PDFs often, this is worth a look.
The Privacy Question
When you use an online compressor that runs on a server, your PDF travels over the internet to that company's computers. They process it and send back the smaller file. Most well-known services say they delete files after some time, and each one explains this in its privacy policy. During that time, your document is stored on computers you do not control.
For a flyer or a school project, that is usually fine. But people also compress tax forms, medical records, bank statements, contracts and ID copies. For these, it makes sense to think about where the file goes.
If your file never leaves your device, it is not stored on anyone else's server.
Tools that work on your own device avoid this problem. Our browser tool is one of them. A desktop program, such as the PDF24 app for Windows or a PDF program you already have, is another. Pick the one that also keeps what your document needs.
Which One Should You Use?
There is no single best PDF compressor. It depends on your file and on what the reader needs to do with it.
- A scanned or photo-heavy PDF that must fit an email or upload limit, and you do not want to upload it: FreeToolPoint is a good fit. Start with eBook and check the result.
- A document where the text must stay selectable and searchable: use a tool that keeps the text. FreeToolPoint's Keep text mode does this without uploading. It only shrinks images, so the reduce-size or optimize feature in a desktop PDF program may save more on some files. If uploading is fine for this document, the online services above are also an option. Check the result by selecting a word.
- Many files at once: our tool handles one PDF at a time. Some online suites let you add several files. Check what their free plan allows.
- A signed contract or a form that must stay fillable: it is usually best not to compress it at all. Any change to the file can break a digital signature. Send the original, share it as a link from cloud storage, or split it into parts.
- A PDF that is mostly typed text: it is probably small already. Our tool will save little or nothing, and it gives you your original back if the new file is not smaller. Keep the original, or try an optimize feature.
Conclusion
The best free PDF compressor is the one that fits your file. Two questions decide it. Does the file need to stay on your device? And does the reader need real text, links, forms or a valid signature?
We built FreeToolPoint's compressor for the first case: private files, mostly scans and photos, that need to get smaller without being uploaded. Its default Keep text mode shrinks the photos and keeps the text, links and form fields. Its Turn pages into images mode can save more on some files, but the text is lost. No mode keeps a digital signature valid, so send signed files as they are, and keep your original either way.