pdfpix

Compress PDF to 10 MB

or drop one here
Compression level
Target size
Choose a PDF file first.

10 MB is 10,485,760 bytes. It holds 730 text pages, 270 pages with pictures, 340 scanned pages, 570 phone photos of pages or 370 pages scanned in colour. Large archives and photo-heavy reports come down to it in one run, inside the browser. The file never leaves this tab.

How to compress a PDF to 10 MB

  1. Choose the PDF

    Press Choose a PDF, or drop the file on the page. The file is read in this tab and is not sent anywhere.

  2. The target is already set

    This page opens at 10 MB, so there is nothing to type. Pick a different level, or enter your own smaller number in KB, if you want another size.

  3. Press Compress

    Four methods race: copy the pages into a fresh file, re-encode the placed images, cut each embedded font down to the glyphs the pages draw, and, only when no other method reached the target, redraw the pages as images with the text kept on top.

  4. Read the check, then download

    Every candidate is opened again and its characters are counted against the source. The page shows the size, the method that won and the characters kept before it offers the download.

The four methods are described in full, with the measurements behind them, in how it works.

What fits in 10 MB

From 1 MB up, the run adds a second public set of 24 files from 2.0 MB to 38.4 MB: scanned FDA approval files from 1997, NASA technical reports, and long US government publications. Every file in both sets is a public document, and the worked example on each page links to its source.

DocumentPages at the default settingPages at the smallest setting
Text documentsPages at the default setting730Pages at the smallest setting730
Text with picturesPages at the default setting250Pages at the smallest setting270
Scanned pagesPages at the default setting340Pages at the smallest setting340
Phone photosPages at the default setting140Pages at the smallest setting570
Colour scansPages at the default setting100Pages at the smallest setting370

A 5 page phone photo scan from a public CC BY dataset went from 13.2 MB to 509 KB by re-encoding the placed pictures at 150 dpi. On the public files above 10 MB, the default methods cut the median file by 96.2%.

Two readings of 10 MB

This tool aims under 10,485,760 bytes. A portal that counts in millions stops at 10,000,000, 485,760 bytes sooner. A target of 9,700 KB, 9,932,800 bytes, clears both. A 10 MB mail limit takes a PDF of about 7.5 MB.

Large files in the browser

The whole file is read into this tab, so a very large PDF needs the memory to hold it and each candidate. On a phone, close other tabs first. Compressing a large PDF covers files of tens of megabytes.

5 MB is the next target down.

Questions

How do I compress a PDF to 10MB?
Choose the file and press Compress with the 10 MB target. The tool races four methods and keeps the smallest output that passes verification.
Is this pdf compressor for 10mb files free?
Yes. It is free, with no account needed. The file is compressed in this tab and never uploaded.
Can I reduce PDF size to 10MB on a phone?
Yes, in a mobile browser. A large file needs memory for the source and each candidate, so close other tabs before you start.
Why is 10 MB 10,485,760 bytes?
This tool counts 1 MB as 1,048,576 bytes. A system that counts in millions stops at 10,000,000, and a 9,700 KB target clears both readings.

Related tools

Each runs in a browser tab like this one, reads its own output back before the download, and needs no account. The footer links every tool.

Where to go next