How to reduce PDF size for email.

1. Check the attachment limit first

Check the current limit for the email service you are using and allow room for the rest of the message. Several attachments count towards the total, and email encoding adds overhead. If a website has given you a fixed upload limit instead, follow our guide to a 2 MB PDF limit.

2. Keep only the pages your recipient needs

A report may include appendices, duplicate scans or a cover sheet that is unnecessary for this message. Extract PDF Pages creates a new document from selected pages. For example, entering 1, 4-6 keeps the cover and pages 4, 5 and 6. Check the recipient’s requirements before removing anything, and keep the complete original.

3. Try compression that preserves text

Open Compress PDF, choose your PDF and leave Preserve text and quality (lossless) selected. Run the tool and compare the original and resulting sizes. This mode recompresses the PDF’s internal data without turning pages into pictures. It preserves selectable text and form fields, but an efficient file may barely shrink. If the attempt is larger, the tool offers your unchanged original.

4. Use image-based compression only when it suits the document

For a document made of scans, try Image-based compression for scans and start with Balanced · 110 dpi. Use Better quality · 150 dpi if fine print becomes hard to read, or try Smaller file · 72 dpi if readability is still acceptable. This mode turns every page into an image: searchable text, links, form fields, bookmarks and accessibility tags are lost. Keep the original and avoid this mode when those features matter.

5. Open the download before attaching it

Inspect small print, dates, signatures and any barcodes at a useful zoom level. Check all pages, including the last one, and confirm the file is small enough. Attach the downloaded result rather than the original. If you changed modes, the newest download is the one to check.

If the PDF is still too large

If you have the source document, try exporting a new PDF with reduced image resolution. When all pages and their quality are necessary, use a sharing link with access limited to the intended recipients, or ask for another accepted delivery method. Repeatedly compressing an already compressed file is not a reliable way to reach a limit.