PDF Medic OnlineCompress PDF to 2 MB
Make a PDF smaller than 2 MB for an upload form — the box below is already set.
Files never leave your device
How to Compress PDF to 2 MB
- Press Choose a PDF, or drop it on the box above. Its size appears next to its name. If it is already under 2 MB, you can upload it as it is.
- Fit a size is already picked, with 1950 in Must be under (KB).
- Press Compress PDF. The tool starts at Best quality and only goes lower if it has to.
- Check the new size, zoom in on a page or two, then press Download.
Which PDFs are over 2 MB
A PDF typed in Word, saved from a website or sent as an invoice is usually far below 2 MB, because text takes very little room. Files over 2 MB are almost always made of pictures: a few pages run through a scanner, phone photos of papers turned into a PDF, or a report with photos in it. Those pictures are what this tool makes lighter.
If your file is mostly text and still over 2 MB, the weight is somewhere else, such as embedded fonts or detailed drawings, which this tool repacks but cannot shrink much. You may even see “This PDF is already as small as it can be made”. Keeping only the pages you need, with Split PDF, is then the way to get it smaller.
What fit under 2 MB in our tests
We made test files and ran them through this page with 1950 in the box. The tool picked the level shown; your own files will differ, but the pattern is similar.
- Letter pages full of small print, scanned in color at 300 dpi (about 2.2 MB per page to start with): one page fitted at Best quality (about 1.1 MB); two or three pages at Balanced (about 1.0 and 1.5 MB); four to eight pages at Small (eight came to about 1.85 MB).
- Pages with one detailed 12-megapixel test photo each (about 3.5 MB per photo): two photos fitted at Best quality (about 1.9 MB), three to five at Balanced, and six to twelve at Small.
A few scanned pages: what each level means for reading
Each level limits how many pixels a picture keeps on its longest side. For a scan that fills a Letter page, that works out to about 220 pixels per inch at Best quality, 160 at Balanced, 120 at Small and 80 at Smallest. Typed text of a normal size usually reads well at the first three. Small print, faint stamps and handwriting are the first things to suffer, so look at those when you check the result.
The fewer pages you send, the higher the level the tool can keep. If you scanned more than the form asks for, take out only the pages it needs with Split PDF first, then compress that file. If you are scanning again, a setting of 200 or 300 dpi is plenty; a bigger scan only gives the tool more to throw away.
If your file is already under 2 MB
This page does not stop to check whether your file already fits. With Fit a size it always starts at Best quality, so a scan that was already 1.6 MB is saved again and its pictures lose a little detail. If the size next to the file name is already under the limit, upload your original instead. It is never changed by this tool.
Why the box says 1950
Here 1 MB is 1,024 KB, so 2 MB is 2,048 KB. Some websites count 2 MB as 2,000,000 bytes instead. 1950 in the box is 1,996,800 bytes, which is under both, so the file passes either way.
Everything happens in your browser: your file is never uploaded to any server. You can check: once your file is open, turn on airplane mode — the tool still works.
Questions
How do I compress a PDF to 2 MB?
Choose the PDF on this page, keep Fit a size with 1950 in the box, and press Compress PDF. You get the best of the four levels that fits under 2 MB, or a message with the smallest size reached if none fits.
My PDF is 3 MB. Will it look much worse at 2 MB?
Often not. In our tests Best quality, the gentlest level, already cut scanned pages to about half their size and photos to about a quarter. A file just over 2 MB will often fit at Best quality.
How do I put several scans into one PDF under 2 MB?
Join them first with Merge PDF (or, for photos, with JPG to PDF), then open this page and compress the joined file. Compressing once at the end lets the tool choose one level for all the pages.
The form allows 2 MB in total for two files. What do I type?
Split the room between them: type 975 for each file, which keeps the two together under 2,000,000 bytes. Compress each file on its own.
Is 2 MB the same as 2000 KB?
It depends on who is counting. This tool says 2 MB is 2,048 KB; many websites say 2,000 KB. The 1950 in the box is under both.
Is my file uploaded?
No. Compress PDF to 2 MB runs in your browser on your own device. The file is never sent to our server or anyone else. Once your file is open you can even turn on airplane mode.
Is it free?
Yes. No sign-up, no limits on how many files, and no watermark is added to your file.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, in any modern browser on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows or Linux. Very large files work best on a computer, because a phone browser has less memory.