How To Compress a PDF on Windows & Mac

Give your doc a good squeeze

If your document is in PDF format, it’s likely to be in its final format—ready to wow your audience. This is where your highest quality graphics are used and where the final version of your text is presented, ready to print or share with others to read or distribute. This can mean large file sizes, especially if it’s an image-heavy document.

While you canedit a PDF, you’ll have to reduce the quality to reduce the overall file size. If you want to know how to compress a PDF, you can get around this issue by compressing the file instead using built-in or third-party software on Windows and Mac or by using an online compression service.

How To Compress A PDF On Windows Using PDF Compressor

There are no built-in methods to compress a PDF on Windows 10, unless you want to add it to a zip file first. This means you’ll need to use a third-party compression tool to compress the PDF file.

While several tools do exist, one of the best options isFree PDF Compressor. This free app has existed for several years, but it’s still one of the easiest and quickest ways to compress a PDF on Windows.

As the Free PDF Compressor saves the compressed file as a separate file to the original, you can repeat the process with a higher quality if you’re unhappy with how the file turns out.

How To Compress A PDF On Mac Using Preview

Unlike Windows, macOS includes a built-in PDF compression feature as part of thePreviewapp for image and document viewing. This app is included on all Macs, and you can find it in yourLaunchpadapp list.

Preview will immediately save an updated, compressed version of your PDF document. You’ll need to open this in Preview afterwards to preview what (if any) noticeable changes in the quality have been made by the app.

Using Online PDF Compression Services

If you don’t want to download additional software to compress your PDF file, you can use various online PDF compression services instead. If you want to use an online service like this, however, you should only do so with non-sensitive documents.

Using these services involves uploading the file to a remote server, where the file could remain in place for a period of time. This poses a serious security risk for any documents that may contain personal data, and you should only use online compression sites for files that you would be happy to share publicly.

Various services exist to compress PDF files online, such asI Love PDF. Most services work in a similar way, however, by allowing you to upload the file, select the quality, and download the compressed file afterwards.

As previously mentioned, you should not use services like I Love PDF for sensitive documents. For any kind of sensitive document containing personal data, you should use a software option to compress the file instead, such as the Preview or Free PDF Compressor apps demonstrated above.

Sharing And Viewing Compressed PDF Files

Compressing a PDF allows you to reduce the file size without lowering the quality too much (unless you want to). This makes it easier to share online, over email or otherfile sharing services. You can evenpassword protect your PDF filesto keep the contents of sensitive documents safe from snoopers.

If you’re struggling to open a PDF, you’ll need to install agood PDF readerlike Adobe Acrobat or Foxit Reader. If you want an online option, you couldconvert PDFs to Google Docs, letting you view, edit, and share the files from your web browser without needing to install a third-party app first.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio

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