Make a PDF smaller, without uploading it.

Scanned documents and PDFs full of photos often shrink by half or more. PDFs that are mostly text (like a resume exported from Word) are usually small already, and may not get smaller. We always show the real before-and-after size.

Balanced and Smallest redraw each page as an image, which is what makes scans smaller. Choose “Light tidy-up” to keep text selectable; it saves less.

Usually not. Most job sites need a resume they can read as text, so send the original. Use Light tidy-up only if a site says the file is too large.

No. Compression runs in your browser. Big files can take a minute on a phone, because your own device does the work.

Server tools can use heavier software, but you have to upload your file to them. Here nothing leaves your device, and we are honest when a file can’t be made smaller.