How to make a PDF smaller on an iPhone
By Kiril UrbonasLast updated: 1 min readOptimize PDF
The iPhone's Files app has no built-in compress option for PDFs, but you can shrink one in Safari: open Compress PDF, choose the PDF from Files, pick Recommended (keeps text selectable) or “To target size” for a hard limit, and save the smaller copy back to Files. The compression runs on the iPhone itself, so the document isn't uploaded.
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Quick steps
- 1Open Compress PDF in Safari.
- 2Tap to choose your PDF from the Files app.
- 3Pick Recommended, or “To target size” and enter a limit.
- 4Tap Compress PDF and save the smaller file to Files.
Compress in Safari
Open Compress PDF in Safari, tap the drop area and choose Browse to pick the PDF from Files. Choose a level, tap Compress PDF, then tap the download and save it to Files.
For an email or messaging limit, use “To target size” and type the limit in KB — or open one of the presets such as Compress PDF to 1 MB.
Why phone scans are so big
Documents scanned with the iPhone camera are stored as high-resolution colour photos, often 1–3 MB per page. Compressing them, or converting them to black and white with Grayscale PDF, typically cuts the size dramatically with no loss in readability.
Tools mentioned in this guide
Frequently asked
- Does compressing on an iPhone use mobile data?
- Only to load the page itself. The PDF is processed on the phone, so its size doesn't count against your data.
- Will it work on an iPad too?
- Yes. It works the same way in Safari on iPad, and with the larger screen you can drag files straight in from the Files app.
- Is the PDF uploaded?
- No. Compression runs in Safari on your device and the file never leaves it.
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Shrink file size — free, no signup, your file never leaves your device.