Bring a PDF of several pages under 500 KB. Photos are re-saved first, which keeps the text selectable, and pages are turned into images only if that isn't enough. You see the exact size in bytes before you download, and the file never leaves your browser.
How to use Compress PDF to 500KB
Choose a PDF. The Target size is already 500 KB; change it or pick Custom if you need another limit.
Click Compress to 500 KB.
See the exact size in bytes, whether it fit, and whether the text stayed selectable.
Click Download PDF.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a PDF smaller than 500 KB?
Choose it here and click Compress to 500 KB. The tool looks for the best quality that fits under 500,000 bytes and tells you what it changed.
What does 500 KB mean here?
1 KB is counted as 1,000 bytes, so the target is at most 500,000 bytes. That is the stricter count, so the file also passes portals that count 1 KB as 1,024 bytes. The result shows its exact size in bytes, so you can compare it with your form's limit.
Will the text stay selectable at 500 KB?
For PDFs made on a computer, such as a résumé, report or form with a few photos, usually yes, because only the photos need to shrink. A long scan has no real text to keep: it's already page images, which get re-saved at a lower dpi.
How many scanned pages fit in 500 KB?
It depends on the scan, but the arithmetic helps: ten pages leave 50,000 bytes each. Fewer pages means each one can keep a higher dpi, so leave out pages the form doesn't need with Remove Pages.
What if it can't get under 500 KB?
You get the smallest file it could make, labelled with its exact size. Split the PDF into parts that each fit, or check whether the portal accepts a larger file.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The PDF is compressed on your device, in your browser.
Good uses for a 500 KB target
Application packets that combine several documents into one PDF, made with Merge PDF. Check the portal's notice for its limit.
Résumés and portfolios with a photo, for job portals that cap uploads.
Phone photos of documents, after JPG to PDF. Phone photos are large, so shrinking them first with compress image to 200 KB can leave more room for each page.
How the 500 KB target is reached
First the file is restructured losslessly; if that already fits, nothing visible changes. Next, photos inside the PDF are re-saved as JPEG, starting at 150 dpi and 72% quality and stepping down to 60 dpi and 40%. Text, fonts and vector drawings aren't touched, so the text stays selectable and searchable. Only if that still isn't enough is every page turned into a picture, from 150 dpi down to 50 dpi. At each stage the tool searches for the highest setting that fits instead of jumping to the smallest.
What happens to the text
When the text and fonts on their own are bigger than the target, the only way to fit is to turn each page into an image. The page still looks the same at normal zoom, but its text can't be selected, searched or copied, links and form fields stop working, and fine print gets softer as the dpi drops. The result tells you which of the two happened. If you need the text back, run OCR PDF on the result, but note that adding a text layer makes the file bigger again.