Compress a PDF to 500 KB
Application and government portals often cap documents at 500 KB. Drop your PDF and the tool works out the settings for you.
Files never leave your deviceNeed more settings? Open the full Compress PDF tool.
How to compress a PDF to 500 KB
- Drop your PDF onto the box above.
- Target size is already 500 KB.
- Press Compress PDF and wait while the tool works through its settings.
- Download the result. The note under it says the final size and whether the text is still selectable.
Built for application portals
University admissions, visa applications, job portals and government services often ask for supporting documents as PDFs no larger than 500 KB: a scanned certificate, a proof of address, a signed form. Phone scans and office scanners typically produce files of several megabytes per page, so they need shrinking first.
The tool tries a sequence of settings, from gentle to strong. It re-compresses the images inside the PDF at decreasing quality and resolution first, which keeps text selectable. If that is not enough, it converts each page to a compact image, which works especially well for scans. As soon as a step produces a file under 500 KB, it stops, so you get the best quality that fits.
Tips for scans and phone photos
- Scan in greyscale for text documents if your scanner allows it. Colour scans are larger.
- Crop to the paper before making a PDF from photos, using the crop tool, so the table or carpet around the page does not waste space.
- Combine photos into a PDF with JPG to PDF and choose A4 or Letter as the page size, then compress the result here.
- One document per file. If the portal accepts several uploads, split a large PDF with split PDF rather than squeezing everything into one.
Roughly three to eight scanned pages fit in 500 KB at readable quality. If you need more headroom, use compress PDF to 1 MB.
Private and offline
Everything happens in your browser. The PDF is opened, compressed and saved on your device and never uploaded, so sensitive documents stay with you. After your first visit the tool works without a connection.
Frequently asked questions
Which PDFs compress best?
Scans and PDFs made from phone photos, because they are mostly images. A one or two page scan almost always fits well under 500 KB.
How many pages fit in 500 KB?
Roughly 3 to 8 scanned pages at readable quality, depending on how detailed they are. Typed text documents can fit many more.
My document is a set of phone photos. Any tips?
Crop the photos to the paper first, then combine them with the JPG to PDF tool using a small page size such as A4, and compress the result.
Are my files uploaded anywhere? How can I check?
No. The PDF compressor runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript and WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device. You can verify it: open your browser's DevTools (F12, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac), switch to the Network tab, tick "Preserve log", clear the list and process a file. You will only see requests for this site's own static files, never one that carries your data. You can also turn on "Offline" in the Network tab (or disconnect from the internet) once the page has loaded, and the tool keeps working.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After your first visit a service worker saves the tool to your device, so it opens and works without a connection. Only advertising needs the internet; the processing never does.