Why PDF Upload Fails on Government Portals (And How to Fix It)
Portals for government jobs, exams, visa, admissions, and e-forms often reject PDFs with unclear errors like “Upload failed”, “Invalid file”, or “File size exceeds limit”. This guide helps you diagnose the real reason and fix it quickly using browser-based tools.
Common reasons your PDF gets rejected
- File size too large (strict 20KB/50KB/100KB/1MB limits are common).
- Scanned PDFs are image-heavy (high-resolution pages create huge files).
- Extra blank pages or duplicate pages are included.
- Large white margins from scanning waste space and increase size.
- Wrong order (some portals expect a single merged document in a specific order).
- Corrupted or “broken” PDF from repeated re-saving in different apps.
- Filename issues (special characters can break uploads on older systems).
Step-by-step fix (fast workflow)
Step 1: Reduce PDF file size
- Open Compress PDF.
- Upload your PDF file.
- Download the compressed PDF and check its size.
If your portal limit is very strict, you may need to repeat compression after cleaning pages and cropping margins.
Step 2: Remove blank or unnecessary pages
- Open Delete pages.
- Remove blank pages, extra instructions, or duplicated pages.
- Download the cleaned PDF.
Step 3: Crop large margins (often overlooked)
- Open Crop PDF.
- Crop to remove white borders around the content.
- Apply to all pages and download the new PDF.
- Compress again if needed using Compress PDF.
Step 4: If the portal needs a single combined file
- Use Merge PDF.
- Arrange documents in the order required by the portal.
- Download the merged PDF, then compress if necessary.
Quick checklist before you re-upload
- File size is within the portal limit.
- Text is readable at 100% zoom (names/ID numbers must be clear).
- Pages are in correct order (if single combined PDF is required).
- Filename is simple (avoid symbols like # % & + /).
- File opens normally in your browser (not corrupted).
Security note for government documents
Many people upload Aadhaar/PAN scans, certificates, and sensitive documents during applications. Prefer tools that process files locally. PDFimageLab tools run inside your browser, so your file is not uploaded to a server.