How to compress a PDF to under 10MB
A 10MB target usually isn't about squeezing a document as hard as possible — it's about handling files that are large mainly because they have a lot of pages: multi-page scanned reports, bound documents scanned page-by-page at high resolution, or PDFs that bundle several supporting documents together. At this size, the goal is trimming enough excess to clear the limit without visibly degrading quality, not maximum compression.
Because 10MB is a relatively generous ceiling, you can usually keep the quality slider fairly high — 70-85% — and still see a meaningful size reduction, especially if the original was scanned at a high DPI that's overkill for on-screen viewing. If you have a genuinely huge document (100+ pages), it's worth compressing in stages: run it through once, check the resulting size, and lower the quality setting only as much as needed rather than defaulting straight to the lowest setting.
I have a 100-page scanned report — will this get it under 10MB?
Likely, if the original was scanned at a resolution higher than needed for screen viewing (which is common). Start with a moderate quality setting like 70% and check the resulting size — you can always compress further if it's still too large.
What quality should I use for a large multi-page document?
For a 10MB target, 70-85% is a reasonable starting point — high enough to preserve legibility, while still trimming the excess that made the original oversized.
Can I compress in stages if one pass isn't enough?
Yes — you can run the compressed output back through the tool again at a lower quality setting if the first pass didn't get you under the target, though each additional pass does add further quality loss since it's re-rendering already-compressed images.
Where does a 10MB limit typically show up?
It's a common cap for internal company document-management systems, some university course submission portals, and email systems with looser attachment limits than Gmail or Outlook's defaults. It sits comfortably above the stricter 1-5MB caps common on government portals.
Does compressing remove any pages from my PDF?
No — every page stays in the document; only the image quality within each page is reduced. If you actually want to drop specific pages to shrink the file, use
Split PDF or
Organize PDF to remove them first, then compress what's left.