PDF file size reducer

Every PDF runs into a limit sooner or later — a 25 MB mail attachment, a 2 MB upload form, a shared drive with no room left. This extension helps you reduce PDF file size right inside your browser, and it gives you real control over the trade-off between how the pages look and what the file weighs. PDFs grow for reasons you never see: pages scanned at print resolution, embedded thumbnails, leftover metadata, objects repeated on every page. So nothing here compresses blindly. Cleanup rewrites the structure, raster presets handle the images, and you decide how far each one goes. ✅ Why people keep it installed - Match a preset to the document instead of pushing every file through one setting - Compress scanned PDFs, where image pages carry almost all of the weight - Keep every step local in the browser, which matters for privacy and for speed - Set DPI, JPEG quality, grayscale and metadata removal when defaults fall short - Work from a side panel that stays out of the way during repeat jobs 🛠️ How to reduce PDF file size in five steps 1. Open the side panel and drop in the document you want to make smaller 2. Pick Cleanup for text-heavy files, or a raster preset for scanned pages 3. Adjust image quality and grayscale if you want finer control 4. Run it and read the new size before you commit to anything 5. Save the optimized PDF straight to your downloads folder ⚙️ The five presets Each one is a different answer to the same question: how far to reduce PDF file size before the pages start to suffer for it. 1️⃣ Cleanup — a light pass that keeps text selectable and the layout intact 2️⃣ Balanced — sensible image downscaling for everyday office documents 3️⃣ Strong — noticeable savings on scans and image-heavy pages 4️⃣ Extreme — maximum compression, for when the smallest file wins 5️⃣ Custom — set DPI, JPEG quality, grayscale and metadata yourself 📌 Where it earns its place ➤ Bulky scan exports turned into PDFs that actually send ➤ Files trimmed to fit upload limits on forms, job boards and portals ➤ Lighter PDF attachments for Gmail, Outlook, Slack and team chats ➤ Archived PDFs that open faster and take up less storage ➤ A readable middle ground when the strongest setting goes too far 🔍 What the compression actually changes Most of the weight in a large PDF is images, not text. Cleanup rewrites the file structure and leaves the text layer alone, so the document stays searchable. The raster presets go after the pictures: they lower the resolution of scanned pages and re-encode them at the quality you choose. That is also why one setting cannot reduce PDF file size equally for every document. A text-heavy report may only lose a fifth of its weight, while a scanned file of the same page count can end up several times smaller. The panel shows the old and the new size side by side before you save, so the result is never a surprise. 🔒 Your files stay yours Everything runs on your machine, so the documents never leave it. That matters for contracts, medical paperwork and bank statements — the things you would rather not hand to an upload form you know nothing about. Cutting PDF file size on your own machine is also faster in practice: no queue, no waiting for a server, no third party holding a copy. There is no account and no sign-up, and the whole thing keeps working offline. The original is never touched, so you always get a new copy and keep the file you started with. Password-protected documents need to be unlocked first, since pages that cannot be opened cannot be processed. 👥 Who gets the most out of it 🎓 Students sending assignments, scanned notes and reading material 💼 Office teams passing around contracts, reports and signed scans ✍️ Freelancers delivering proposals, invoices and portfolio PDFs 📨 Recruiters and applicants trimming attachments before an upload 🧾 Anyone who hits a size limit more often than they would like The extension does not try to be a PDF editor, and that is the point. It does one thing — it helps you reduce PDF file size — and it does it where the file already is, in your browser. Whether that is a single attachment before a deadline or a weekly pile of scanned reports, the steps stay the same and the document stays on your device.