How to reduce PDF file size in mobile without losing quality

PDF is a popular and versatile format for good reason. However, dealing with PDFs can be a pain as there is no standard for file sizes and image quality, which leads to multiple instances — especially when dealing with government websites — where a PDF must be resized.

This process isn’t as simple as it might sound as many services aren’t free, and if privacy is a concern this rules out many online services.

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Here’s how to compress PDF files on mobile:

Which PDFs can be compressed?

The first thing you need to be aware of is that not all PDFs can be compressed. Text-only PDFs such as exported Word documents and forms are already as heavily compressed and optimised as they can be. These files are usually small enough to not create an issue, however.

PDFs containing images, especially ones comprising scanned documents can be compressed if they’ve not already been optimised.

Online services

On mobile, you can take advantage of online services like SmallPDF, iLovePDF, and PDF24 Tools. Note that these services will require you to upload the PDF to their servers for compression and that you have no control over what happens to the data after that. If you’re dealing with highly sensitive information, we would avoid such services.

PDF apps

Another option is to use apps like Adobe Acrobat Pro, UPDF, and WPS Office. These services offer built-in compression tools but charge a fee for such features. For a free option, your best bet is Compress PDF, which is a dedicated app for, as the name indicates, compressing PDFs. Of the paid options, Adobe Acrobat is one of the best apps you can use when dealing with PDF files, but it’s far from cheap.

Dealing with PDFs can be needlessly complicated at times, but tools are available that can make this process a bit easier.