How to get a PDF under an upload limit and keep the text readable
Checked against our tools on 19 October 2026
Open Compress PDF, add the file, choose Get it under a size and pick the form's limit, such as 2 MB. The compressor tries the gentlest settings first and keeps the first result that fits, so the file loses no more quality than it has to. It never takes a full-page scan below about 120 DPI, so if the limit is too tight it tells you the smallest readable size it reached rather than handing you a blurry file. Then open the result at 100% and read the smallest print before you upload it.
Go straight to the tool: Compress PDF, Remove pages, Split PDF
The steps
- Open Compress PDF and add your PDF.
- Choose Get it under a size, then pick 200 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB or 5 MB, or type the form's limit in KB or MB.
- Select Compress PDF to under 2 MB (the button names the size you picked).
- Download the result and check it, as the next section describes.
The four results you can get
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| "494.7 KB, under 2 MB" | It fits. Download it and check it. |
| "Still over 2 MB" | This is the smallest it can make the file while keeping scanned text readable. You can still download it, but you'll need to remove pages or split it. |
| "Already under 2 MB" | Your original already fits, so there's nothing to download and it doesn't count towards your daily allowance. |
| "Couldn't make it smaller" | There was nothing to compress, usually because the file is mostly text. It doesn't count either. |
Check it's still readable
A file that fits but can't be read gets rejected by a person instead of a computer. Zoom to 100% on the page with the smallest print, such as a payslip's line items, a passport's machine-readable lines or a transcript's grade table, and check that signatures and stamps are still clear. If anything is soft, try a larger size or remove pages instead.
Typed text in a PDF saved from Word or a website is never re-encoded, so it stays sharp at any size. It's scanned and photographed text that blurs, because to the PDF it's a picture.
Aim a little under the limit
Like Windows, we count a megabyte as 1,048,576 bytes, so "under 2 MB" here means up to 2,097,152 bytes. A form that counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes would reject a file of 2.05 MB by our count. If you're not sure how the form counts, type 1.9 MB instead of 2.
For email, aim lower still. Attachments grow by about a third on the way, so a 20 MB limit fits a PDF of about 15 MB.
When no size setting gets there
Page count sets a floor. In our tests a scanned page still weighed about 90 KB at the strongest level, so a 30-page scan won't fit under 2 MB and stay readable. Then:
- Remove pages the form didn't ask for: cover sheets, blank backs, duplicates. Remove pages runs in your browser.
- Split the file with Split PDF if the form lets you upload several.
- If you made the scan yourself, scan again at 200 DPI in greyscale. That beats compressing a 600 DPI colour scan afterwards.
Common questions
Is it free? Yes. Without an account, files can be up to 25 MB and you can compress 2 a day. A free account raises that to 50 MB and 10 a day.
Is my file uploaded? Yes. Compression needs server software, so the file is uploaded, encrypted in transit and deleted automatically about 60 minutes later, or straight away from the result screen.
Why isn't there a separate page for 100 KB or 500 KB? Because it's the same job. Type any size from 50 KB upwards into the one setting.