Initializing Secure Environment…
Initializing Secure Environment…
Reduce PDF file size by up to 70% free — no upload to any server, no watermark, no account required. Choose Light, Medium, or Heavy compression. Text stays perfectly sharp at every level because PDF text is stored as vector data, not pixels. Powered by Ghostscript running locally in your browser via WebAssembly — your documents never leave your device.
Large PDFs get rejected by email providers, fail to upload to job application portals and government forms, slow down document sharing, and consume unnecessary cloud storage. Gmail blocks attachments over 25MB, Outlook caps at 20MB, and many HR portals and government forms enforce 2–5MB limits. Compressing removes redundant data, optimizes embedded images, subsets fonts, and strips hidden metadata — shrinking the file dramatically while keeping the visual content intact. Text quality is never affected at any compression level.
Most online PDF compressors — ilovepdf, smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat online — upload your file to their servers to process it. For sensitive documents like CVs, contracts, medical records, and financial statements, this creates unnecessary privacy exposure. ihatepdf uses Ghostscript compiled to WebAssembly, running the entire compression pipeline inside your browser tab. Your file bytes never reach any server — not even ihatepdf's. The tool also functions completely offline: once the page loads, disconnect your internet and it still compresses perfectly.
Ghostscript applies five simultaneous optimizations: (1) Image downsampling — photos are resampled from high DPI to optimal resolution using bicubic interpolation; (2) JPEG recompression — images are re-encoded at a quality level matched to your chosen compression tier; (3) Font subsetting — embedded fonts are trimmed to only include characters used in the document, cutting font data by up to 90%; (4) Metadata stripping — creation history, author names, and thumbnail previews are removed; (5) Stream compression — all content streams are recompressed with the most efficient lossless algorithm. Text and vector graphics are entirely unaffected by all five steps.
To compress a PDF under 1MB: use Heavy compression. For most image-heavy PDFs this is achievable in one pass. To compress for email under 25MB: Medium compression handles the vast majority of files. To meet government portal limits of 2–5MB: start with Heavy compression. If still too large, use the Split PDF tool to divide the document into smaller sections and compress each section separately. A 15MB scanned document typically becomes 2–3MB on Heavy compression.
Scanned documents compress 50–70%. Presentation PDFs with photos compress 40–60%. Text-heavy CVs and reports compress 10–30% since text is already stored as vectors. A 10MB scanned document typically becomes 2–4MB on Heavy compression.
Never. Text in PDFs is stored as vector data — it is completely unaffected by compression. Only raster images (photos, scanned pages, illustrations) are optimized. Text stays perfectly sharp at every compression level.
Choose Heavy compression. If still over 1MB, the PDF has many high-resolution images. Split it into sections using the Split PDF tool, then compress each part individually.
Gmail limits attachments to 25MB. Outlook to 20MB. Most HR portals cap uploads at 2–5MB. Use Medium compression for most cases. Switch to Heavy if the file is still too large.
No. Everything runs locally in your browser using WebAssembly. Your PDF never reaches any server. The tool also works fully offline once the page has loaded.
No artificial limit. The practical constraint is your device RAM — typically 100–150MB on desktop browsers. For very large PDFs, close other tabs to free up memory.
Not directly. Remove the password first using the Remove Password tool, compress it, then re-encrypt using the Encrypt PDF tool if needed.
Light (20–30%) resamples images to 300 DPI — ideal for professional printing. Medium (40–50%) targets 150 DPI — perfect for screen viewing and sharing. Heavy (60–70%) targets 72 DPI — maximum size reduction for archiving or portal uploads.
Adobe Acrobat uploads your file to Adobe servers and requires a paid subscription. ihatepdf runs entirely in your browser — no upload, no account, no subscription. Completely free.