PDF & Image Tools

Compress PDF for Email

Shrink a PDF to fit Gmail and Outlook attachment limits. Free, instant, and 100% private.

Target size:20.00 MB

Drop your PDF here

Will be compressed toward 20.00 MB (up to 300 MB)

100% Private

PDFs are processed in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

As small as possible

We get as close to 20.00 MB as the file allows, and we tell you the exact result.

No Watermarks

Free forever, no signup, no daily limits.

What size does a PDF need to be for email?

Email providers cap how big an attachment can be. As of 2026: Gmail allows up to 25 MB per message, and Outlook.com allows up to 20 MB. We aim for 20 MB so the file is small enough for both. One honest catch: email encodes attachments before sending, which can inflate a file by roughly a third on the wire. If a strict server still bounces your message at 20 MB, use the "Adjust" control to pick a smaller target: around 15 MB is a safe bet almost everywhere. When a file is already small enough, we leave it untouched. The tool re-renders your pages and fits the file as close to the target as it can, then shows the exact size. Everything happens in your browser (your document is never uploaded), which matters when you're emailing something private.

How do I shrink a PDF so I can send it as an email attachment?

Upload your PDF and the tool re-renders the pages to bring the file as close to email-friendly size as it can (it aims for 20 MB to fit Gmail and Outlook), then shows you the exact result rather than promising a number it can't hit. It all runs in your browser so the document is never uploaded, though reaching very small sizes turns pages into images and the text stops being selectable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the maximum PDF size I can email?
Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB per message and Outlook.com up to 20 MB (as of 2026). This page aims for 20 MB to fit both; because encoding can add about 30%, use Adjust to target around 15 MB if a strict server still rejects it.
My 20 MB PDF still got rejected. Why?
Email encoding can add about 30% to a file in transit, and some corporate servers set stricter limits. Use the Adjust control to target around 15 MB and try again.
Can I make it much smaller for messaging apps too?
Yes. Set a smaller target like 5 MB or 2 MB with the Adjust control, or use a dedicated size page. Compress to 5 MB
Will the text stay selectable?
No, fitting a size target renders pages to images. If the recipient needs selectable or searchable text, use the full Compress PDF tool with OCR on desktop. Open Compress PDF
Is it private? Does it upload my email attachment?
No upload, ever. Compression runs entirely in your browser, so a confidential PDF never leaves your device.

Need a different size?

Compress to 2 MBCompress to 5 MBCompress to 1 MBCustom size

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