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Compress PDF for Email - Get Under Gmail & Outlook Limits

Secure processingNo signup required100% freeFiles deleted after 1 hour

Drop your PDF here

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PDFMax 200 MB

Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB total; Outlook at 20 MB. A scanned PDF or report with many images can easily hit 50-100 MB. Compress your PDF below the email limit in seconds, entirely in your browser, no file upload to any server.

The most common reason a PDF bounces from email is its size. This tool reduces PDF file size by optimizing embedded images, removing redundant internal data, and re-encoding content at a lower DPI, while keeping text perfectly sharp and hyperlinks intact.

How to use it

Three steps, under 30 seconds from upload to download.

  1. 1

    Upload your PDF

    Drop the PDF or click to browse. Files are processed locally in your browser using PDF.js, your document is never sent to a server.

  2. 2

    Choose compression level

    Pick Standard (halves most PDFs) or Strong (maximum reduction for scanned documents). Strong mode downsamples images to 72 DPI, ideal for email attachments viewed on screen.

  3. 3

    Download and attach

    Click Download to save the compressed PDF. Attach it to your email as normal. The file is permanent, compress once and reuse.

Common use cases

Real-world scenarios where this tool is the fastest solution.

✦

Scanned invoices

Compress scanned invoice PDFs to email to clients under Gmail's 25 MB limit.

✦

Business reports

Reduce large report PDFs with charts and images for email distribution.

✦

Presentation decks

Shrink exported presentation PDFs so they can be emailed as attachments.

✦

Signed contracts

Compress finalized contract PDFs for email delivery to counterparties.

What makes this different

✓

Gets PDFs under 10 MB

Most PDFs compress well below all email limits, fitting Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud Mail.

✓

Text stays sharp

Only embedded image DPI is reduced, all text, hyperlinks, and vector graphics stay crisp.

✓

Fully private

No server upload, processed entirely in your browser, GDPR-compliant.

✓

Preserves functionality

Hyperlinks, bookmarks, and form fields all remain fully functional after compression.

Questions & answers

Everything you might need to know before using the tool.

What is Gmail's PDF attachment size limit?+
Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB total per email. If a single PDF is larger than 25 MB, Gmail automatically converts it to a Google Drive link. To send the file as a true attachment, compress it below 25 MB.
What is Outlook's file size limit for email attachments?+
Microsoft Outlook and Outlook.com limit attachments to 20 MB per email. Exchange Server environments may have lower limits set by the organization's IT administrator, commonly 10 MB.
Will compressing a PDF damage the content?+
No. Text, hyperlinks, bookmarks, and form fields are preserved exactly. Image quality is reduced slightly, but at standard email viewing sizes (screen, not print) the difference is imperceptible.
My PDF is still too large after compression, what can I do?+
Very large scanned PDFs may need the Strong compression setting. If the file is still too large, consider splitting it using the Split PDF tool and sending in parts, or uploading to Google Drive and sharing a link instead.

Your files are private

All processing runs locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your files are never transmitted to any server, stored, or shared. Close the tab and they're gone.

100%
Browser-local

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