How to compress a PDF to 200 KB, 500 KB or 1 MB

2026-11-04

Online forms love upload limits. One portal wants documents under 200 KB, another under 500 KB, and an email might bounce anything over a few MB. Our Compress PDF tool has a Compress to a size option made for exactly this: you type the limit, and it aims for a file under it.

If you need something even smaller, read our separate guide on compressing a PDF to under 100 KB.

KB and MB in one minute

• KB means kilobytes and MB means megabytes. 1 MB is 1,024 KB.
• A one-page text PDF made on a computer is often only 20 to 100 KB.
• A single page scanned with a phone can easily be 1 to 3 MB, because it is a large photo.

So when a form says "maximum 500 KB" and your file is 4 MB, the file is almost always a scan or contains photos. That is good news: pictures are exactly what compression can shrink.

Compress to a size, step by step

1. Open Compress PDF.
2. Select your PDF (up to 50 MB).
3. Choose Compress to a size.
4. Type the largest size you can upload, in KB. For 1 MB, type 1000 (slightly below 1,024 leaves a little room).
5. Click Compress PDF.
6. The Download screen tells you how much smaller the file became, for example Your PDF is now 72% smaller: 1.2 MB → 340 KB. Check that the new size is below your limit, then tap Download PDF.

Tip: aim a little below the limit. If the form says 200 KB, type 190. Some websites count sizes slightly differently.

Or choose a level

If there is no exact limit and you just want a smaller file, choose Choose a level instead:

• Less compression, best quality for documents you will print.
• Recommended for most uses. Text stays sharp and photos still look good on screen.
• Extreme compression, smallest file when size matters more than how photos look.

In every mode, text stays as real text, so it remains sharp and searchable. Only pictures are made smaller.

Always check the result

Open the compressed PDF and zoom to 100%. Check that:

• small print, such as numbers in a table or an ID number, is still readable,
• signatures and stamps are still clear,
• photos (for example on an ID card) are still recognisable.

If something is too blurry, tap Back, type a slightly larger size and compress again. Always start from the original file, not from a copy you already compressed.

When the file won't get small enough

Sometimes a PDF cannot reach the target without becoming unreadable. The Download screen then says so, and gives you the smallest readable version. Usually the PDF has too many pages for the limit, or the scans are very large. Try these, in order:

1. Remove pages you don't need. Blank backs of pages, instruction pages and duplicate pages all add size. Use Remove pages, then compress again.
2. Rescan with a cleaner look. For black text on white paper, Scan to PDF and JPG to PDF have a Black & white document look. It removes the grey background and produces much smaller pages than a colour photo.
3. Split the document. If the form lets you upload several files, use Split PDF to cut it into parts and compress each part.
4. Crop large margins. A phone photo often includes the table under the paper. Crop PDF trims it away.

Typical sizes to aim for

There is no single rule, and every portal sets its own limit, so always follow the instructions on the form. As a rough guide:

• Under 200 KB: a one- or two-page scan, such as an ID proof or a certificate, compressed with the Recommended or Extreme level.
• Under 500 KB: a few scanned pages, or a longer document that was created on a computer.
• Under 1 MB: a multi-page scanned document, such as a set of marksheets, or a report with photos.

Privacy

Compression runs on our server, because it needs Ghostscript, a program that can't run in a browser. Your file is sent over HTTPS, compressed, and deleted immediately afterwards. If the document is sensitive, the Compress PDF page explains this, and our privacy policy has the details.