How to Compress a PDF Below 1 MB

No signup, no installation — just upload your PDF, compress it, and download a smaller file that works for email and online forms.

Why You Need <1 MB PDFs

Many portals, college forms, and government websites set a strict 1 MB file size limit. If your PDF is even slightly larger, the upload fails and you have to try again.

Instead of exporting again and again, you can use the Compress PDF tool to reliably bring the file size under 1 MB.

Step-by-step: Compress Below 1 MB

Open the Compress PDF tool in your browser.
Click Upload and select your PDF.
Choose a compression level and let the tool process the file.
Check the new file size after compression.
If it’s still above 1 MB, run a slightly stronger compression and download again.

Behind the scenes, the tool shrinks images, removes hidden metadata, and optimizes internal PDF structure so you get the smallest size with usable quality.

Extra Tips for Hard-to-Shrink PDFs

Use Delete pages to remove blank or unnecessary pages.
Very heavy scanned PDFs may need two rounds of compression.
If quality is still too high for your use case, slightly lower scan resolution before creating the PDF.

Once your PDF is under 1 MB, you can safely upload it to portals, attach it in email, or share it anywhere without size errors.

Try it now: open the Compress PDF tool and test with one of your files.