How to make a PDF small enough to email
Compress the PDF with Balanced or Strong. If it is still too big, Split by size cuts it into parts that each fit the email limit.
CompressFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open Compress and add the PDF.
- Choose Balanced, or Strong if the file is very large.
- Press Compress it and check the new size.
- Tap Then and choose Split by size if the result is still over the email limit.
- Attach the file, or tap Share on a phone to send it straight from the result.
How big an attachment can be
Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB in one email. Many office email systems allow less, often 10 MB, and the person receiving may have a lower limit than you. Email also makes a file a little bigger in transit, so aim comfortably under the limit rather than just under it.
Which setting to choose
Balanced keeps photos sharp on any screen and fine to print, and usually halves the size or better. Strong is for email limits: photos get softer, text stays exactly as it was. If neither makes the file smaller, it has no photos to shrink, and the result says so rather than handing back a copy.
Splitting instead
Some files cannot shrink much: a long report that is mostly text is already small for what it holds. Split by size makes parts under 5, 10 or 25 MB, or any size you type, which you send in separate emails. Or send only the pages that matter with Extract pages.
A link, or the file itself?
Some email services offer to put a large attachment in their cloud storage and send a link instead. That works, but the file then lives on their servers, and the person receiving has to open the link and may need an account. For a private document, a smaller file, or a few parts sent in separate emails, keeps it in the email itself, where you know who has it.
A worked example
You need to email a 38 MB scanned property document to a lawyer whose office accepts 10 MB per email. Open Compress, add the file, choose Strong and press Compress it. If the result is still over 10 MB, tap Then and choose Split by size, pick 10 MB and press Split into parts that fit.
Send part 1 and part 2 in two emails, with a line in each saying which part it is. The sizes here are only an example; the result line always gives the real ones.
Sending from a phone
On a phone, Share hands the file straight to Gmail, Outlook or WhatsApp without saving it first. WhatsApp also takes PDFs as documents, with a much higher size limit than most email, so ask what the person prefers before squeezing a file hard. If you saved the file instead, it is in your Downloads, where any app can attach it from.
Questions people ask
Will compressing ruin how it looks?
Balanced is sharp on any screen. Only Strong softens photos noticeably, and text is never touched by either.
Is my document sent anywhere while it is compressed?
No. It is made smaller in your browser. The only place it goes is wherever you send it afterwards.
Can I compress several attachments at once?
Yes. Add them all; each one comes back smaller, and Save all saves them together.
Why is my PDF so big in the first place?
Almost always photos: a phone camera or a scanner set to high quality stores far more detail than a page needs. A PDF of typed text is usually small, even with many pages.
Does splitting change the pages?
No. The pages are shared out between the parts in order, untouched. The person receiving can join them again with Merge.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check