Compress PDF for Email
Make any PDF small enough to attach and send. The compressor below is set to maximum reduction.
Email providers reject attachments over a fixed limit — Gmail and Yahoo at 25 MB, Outlook/Office 365 at 20 MB, and many corporate servers far lower, often 10 MB or even 5 MB. A scanned contract or a slide deck can blow past those easily. The compressor below is set to high compression to shrink your PDF as much as possible so it sends on the first try and downloads quickly for the recipient. Drop your file, download the smaller version, and attach it. If your mail server has a strict limit, you can also switch to a specific target size.
Secure
HTTPS transport. Files removed after processing.
High quality
Resilient open-source engine pipeline.
Fast & easy
Drop, process, download — in seconds.
How to compress pdf for email
- 1
Upload your PDF
Drop the file you want to email — high compression is preselected.
- 2
Compress
The tool reduces the file as much as possible while keeping it readable.
- 3
Check the new size
The success panel shows the reduced size.
- 4
Attach and send
Download and attach the compressed PDF to your email.
Built for speed, privacy, and zero friction
- Maximum reduction so attachments do not bounce
- Fits Gmail (25 MB), Outlook (20 MB), and stricter corporate limits
- Recipients download it faster on any connection
- No signup, no watermark, no daily limit
- Secure processing; files deleted after download
| Email provider | Attachment limit |
|---|---|
| Gmail | 25 MB |
| Outlook / Office 365 | 20 MB |
| Yahoo Mail | 25 MB |
| iCloud Mail | 20 MB |
| Typical corporate server | 5–10 MB |
Common email attachment limits. Compress below your provider’s (and the recipient’s) limit.
Frequently asked questions
What size should a PDF be to email it?
Aim well under your provider’s limit and the recipient’s — both have to accept it. Under 10 MB is safe almost everywhere; under 5 MB clears even strict corporate servers. High compression usually gets ordinary documents far below that.
Why did my email bounce with an attachment too large?
The attachment exceeded the sending or receiving server’s limit. Even if your provider allows 25 MB, the recipient’s server might cap at 10 MB. Compressing the PDF first avoids the bounce.
Can I hit an exact size for a strict mailbox?
Yes — switch the tool to “By size” and type a target (for example 5000 KB for a 5 MB cap). It will compress to fit under that exact ceiling.
Will the recipient be able to read it?
Yes. High compression reduces image weight but keeps text and layout intact, so the document reads normally on any device.
“Too large to email” is almost always an image problem: a few scanned pages or embedded photos can push a PDF past a mail server’s limit even though the text is tiny. High compression targets exactly that, recompressing the images so the file drops to a sendable size while the words and layout stay intact. Remember that two limits apply to every email — your provider’s sending limit and the recipient’s receiving limit — so it pays to compress comfortably below the smaller of the two. For most documents, high compression lands well under 10 MB, which is safe nearly everywhere. If you are emailing into a system with a strict cap, switch the tool to “By size” and set an exact target such as 5 MB or 2 MB. And if the file is still too big after compression, splitting it and sending the relevant pages is the most reliable fallback.
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