No. Compression runs locally in your browser. The PDF is not sent to RedactLocal.

Will text stay selectable?

With the Light level, yes — it optimizes the file structure without touching the pages. Balanced and Strong rebuild pages as images for much larger savings, which means text is no longer selectable.

What if it can’t get smaller?

We tell you honestly. If a PDF is already well optimized, Light may not shrink it meaningfully, and we won’t present a larger file as a success.

PDF · Optimize

Compress PDF

Make a PDF smaller in your browser — keep text selectable with lossless optimization, or trade some quality for bigger savings.

Private by design — your files stay on your device.Processing happens locally in your browser. Your files are not uploaded to RedactLocal.

Drop a PDF here

or click to choose a file

PDF · processed on your device

How it works

Add your PDFDrop it in. Its current size is shown right away.
Choose a levelLight keeps text; Balanced and Strong rebuild pages as images for smaller files.
Compare & downloadSee the before and after sizes, then download if it’s worth it.

Honest compression, in your browser

In-browser compression has real limits, so we’re straight about it. Light rewrites the PDF’s structure and strips metadata without changing the pages — text stays selectable, and savings are usually modest. Balanced and Strong re-render each page as an optimized image, which shrinks image-heavy and scanned PDFs a lot, but makes text non-selectable. We always show the real before-and-after size, and if a file is already well optimized we say so rather than handing back something that isn’t actually smaller.

Frequently asked questions

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser. The PDF is never sent to RedactLocal.

Which level should I use?

Use Light when you need to keep selectable, searchable text. Use Balanced for a good size-vs-quality default on scanned or image-heavy PDFs, and Strong when the smallest possible file matters more than fine detail.

Why didn’t my file get smaller?

If a PDF is already well optimized, lossless Light compression can’t do much. We’ll tell you honestly and suggest trying Balanced or Strong, which reduce image quality for larger savings.