RapidHow to Compress a PDF on Windows 10 and 11 — Free, No Adobe
The simplest free way, what Windows and Microsoft Office can and cannot do, and how to make scanned PDFs smaller from the start.
How to compress a PDF on Windows 10 or 11 for free, without Adobe Acrobat: open the free Compress PDF tool in Edge or Chrome, choose your PDF, pick a level and download the smaller file. There is nothing to install, and the file stays on your computer. Windows itself has no built-in PDF compressor, but Microsoft Word can save a smaller PDF, and lower scanner settings make scanned PDFs smaller from the start.
The Simplest Free Method: Compress PDF in Edge or Chrome
- Open Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome and go to rapidtools.online/compress-pdf.
- Drag your PDF onto the page, or click to choose it from File Explorer. The file is processed in your browser and is never uploaded.
- Pick a level: High quality, Medium or Maximum (see the table below).
- Click Compress PDF. The smaller file downloads to your Downloads folder, and the tool shows the original size, the new size and the percent saved.
- Open the new file to check it. If it is still too big, compress the original again with the next level.
The tool shrinks only the images inside the PDF. Text is never changed, so it stays sharp and searchable at every level.
| Level | Images are resized to at most | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| High quality | 2,500 pixels on the longest side | Keeps images sharp |
| Medium | 1,700 pixels on the longest side | A good balance of size and quality |
| Maximum | 1,100 pixels on the longest side | The smallest file, with lower image quality |
These are real results from our tests. Your file will be different, because the result depends on what is inside it:
| Test PDF | Original | High quality | Medium | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDF with photos (6 pages) | 15.58 MB | 1.51 MB | 553 KB | 249 KB |
| Scanned PDF (8 pages) | 8.77 MB | 4.04 MB | 1.95 MB | 747 KB |
| Text-only PDF (20 pages) | 16.5 KB | 12.9 KB | 12.9 KB | 12.9 KB |
If you need to get under an exact limit such as 1 MB or 200 KB, see how to compress a PDF to a specific size. To estimate how big a PDF will be before you make it, use the PDF File Size Calculator.
Does Windows Have a Built-in PDF Compressor?
No. Windows 10 and Windows 11 can open PDFs (in Microsoft Edge) and create PDFs (with Microsoft Print to PDF), but neither has a setting that makes an existing PDF smaller. To compress a PDF you already have, you need a separate tool, such as the free browser tool above.
Microsoft Print to PDF: Does It Make a PDF Smaller?
Usually not. Microsoft Print to PDF is the printer that comes with Windows 10 and 11. You can open a PDF in Edge, press Ctrl+P, choose Microsoft Print to PDF and save a new copy, but:
- It has no size or quality setting, only options such as paper size and page orientation.
- It saves a printed copy of each page, so the new file is often about the same size or even larger.
- Links, bookmarks and fillable form fields are lost, because printing flattens the pages.
It is useful for turning something that is not a PDF into a PDF, but it is not a compressor.
Microsoft Word: Save a Smaller PDF
If your document started in Word, you can make a smaller PDF when you save it, instead of compressing it afterwards:
- In Word on Windows, go to File → Save As and choose where to save.
- Set the file type to PDF.
- Next to "Optimize for", choose Minimum size (publishing online). This makes the images smaller, so choose Standard instead if the PDF will be printed.
- Click Save.
The same option appears in File → Export → Create PDF/XPS. It helps most when the document has pictures. A document that is only text is already small, so the option changes little. Saving as a PDF this way keeps links, unlike Microsoft Print to PDF.
Scanned Documents: Lower the Scanner Settings
Scanned pages are pictures, so they make the biggest PDFs. The easiest way to keep them small is to scan with lower settings in the first place:
- Color mode: choose Black and white for ordinary text documents. In our tests it was about 90 percent smaller than color, while Grayscale saves only about 10 percent. Keep Color for photos, colored stamps or anything where color matters.
- Resolution (DPI): a lower DPI means fewer pixels. Scanning at 150 DPI instead of 300 DPI gives each page a quarter of the pixels, which usually makes it much smaller. For plain text, 150 or 200 DPI is usually easy to read.
In the Windows Scan app, select Show more to see Color mode and Resolution (DPI). Windows Scan saves images (JPEG, PNG, TIFF or Bitmap), not PDFs, so choose JPEG and then turn the pages into one PDF with Image to PDF. Many scanners also come with their own scanning software that can save PDFs directly and has similar settings. The scan size table in the File Size Calculator shows how resolution and color mode change file size.
Which Method Should You Use?
| Your situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| You already have the PDF | Compress PDF in Edge or Chrome |
| The document is still in Word | Save as PDF with "Minimum size (publishing online)" |
| You are about to scan paper pages | Scan in black and white at a lower DPI |
| You want a smaller PDF from Microsoft Print to PDF | Use Compress PDF instead; printing rarely makes it smaller |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Windows have a built-in PDF compressor?
No. Windows 10 and 11 can open PDFs in Microsoft Edge and create PDFs with Microsoft Print to PDF, but neither can make an existing PDF smaller. Use a free browser tool such as Compress PDF in Edge or Chrome instead. It needs no install, and the file stays on your computer.
How do I compress a PDF on Windows without Adobe Acrobat?
Open rapidtools.online/compress-pdf in Edge or Chrome, choose your PDF, pick High quality, Medium or Maximum, and click Compress PDF. The smaller file downloads to your Downloads folder. It is free, needs no account, and the file is never uploaded.
Does Microsoft Print to PDF reduce file size?
Usually not. It has no size or quality setting, and it saves a printed copy of each page, so the new file is often about the same size or larger. It also removes links, bookmarks and fillable form fields. To make a PDF smaller, use a compressor instead.
How do I make a smaller PDF from a Word document?
In Word on Windows, go to File, then Save As, set the file type to PDF, and next to Optimize for choose Minimum size (publishing online). This makes the pictures smaller. Choose Standard instead if the PDF will be printed.
How much smaller will my PDF get?
It depends on what is inside it, because only images are shrunk. In our tests, a 15.58 MB PDF with photos became 1.51 MB on High quality and 249 KB on Maximum, and an 8.77 MB scanned PDF became 747 KB on Maximum. A text-only PDF barely changed. Results vary by file.