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Split one PDF into separate files

Splitting means one of two different jobs: pulling out the pages you want as a single new file, or breaking a document into one file per page. The first is the one most people need and the second is the one most tools offer. Both run in the browser tab and both check their output.

Split PDF

Decide which split you want

Keeping a range gives you one new PDF holding the pages you chose, in the order you chose. That is the answer for pulling a five page section out of a sixty page report, or for extracting one signed page to send on.

Splitting into single pages gives you a file for every page, delivered as a zip. That is the answer when each page has to go to a different place, or when a system you are feeding accepts one page at a time.

Keeping a range as one file

Open Split PDF. Every page appears as a thumbnail. Mark the first page of each new part, then check the output plan before the split runs. Every part is opened again and the checked PDFs arrive in one ZIP.

Working by thumbnail rather than by typing page numbers is the point. Page numbering printed in a document may differ from the page positions in the file because of cover sheets and numbered prefaces. The thumbnail and source page number remove that ambiguity.

One file per page

The single page route writes one PDF for every page and packs them into a zip. The files are named after the original with a page number appended and padded, so page nine of forty comes out as page 09 and sorts correctly in any folder.

That padding matters more than it sounds. Unpadded numbers sort as text, which puts page 10 between page 1 and page 2 in every file manager you will ever open the folder in.

What the tool checks

Both routes take a receipt of every source page before they start: its text and its geometry. Every file that comes out is then reopened and compared against those receipts, page by page.

The text of each page has to match exactly and every page has to keep its width and height. A mismatch means the split is refused rather than downloaded, which is the behaviour you want when the alternative is a silently truncated document you do not check.

What splitting costs

Document properties are cleared, so each part carries no title, author, producer or dates from the original. Bookmarks do not survive either, which is worth knowing if you were splitting a long report along its own chapter structure.

Page content is untouched. Text stays selectable, images keep their pixels and page sizes stay the same, because pages are copied rather than redrawn.

Splitting to make a file smaller

This works, and it is often the sensible answer to an attachment limit. Half a document is roughly half the bytes, and nothing about the pages you keep changes.

It is not always the right answer. A recipient who has to reassemble four files is being given your problem, so compress first and split only if the size target genuinely cannot be met. Compression is the better first move on any document that is mostly scanned pages.

The reverse job

Putting documents back together is the merge tool, which takes any number of files in the order you set. Splitting and merging use the same page copying underneath, so a round trip changes nothing on the pages.

The page adding guide covers building a document from parts, and the pages hub lists the rest of the cluster.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between splitting and extracting pages?
Extracting keeps the pages you chose in one new file. Splitting into single pages writes a separate file for every page and hands them to you as a zip. Most people asking to split actually want the first.
How are the single page files named?
After the original document, with a padded page number appended. Padding keeps them in order in a file manager, where unpadded numbers would put page 10 between page 1 and page 2.
Do bookmarks survive a split?
No. Bookmarks live above the pages in the document structure, and each part is built by copying pages into a fresh document. Document properties are cleared for the same reason.
Can I get one file per chapter instead of one file per page?
Not in one pass. Split writes one file for each page. For chapter-sized parts, run the organize tool once per chapter: keep the pages of that chapter, download, then start again from the original. The original is never modified, so repeating it is safe.
Should I split a PDF to get under an email size limit?
Compress it first, since that keeps the document in one piece. Split only when the size target cannot be reached, because a recipient who has to reassemble several files inherits your problem.

Do it now

The tool runs in this browser. Your file never leaves the machine, and the result is checked before you download it.

Split PDF

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