Free · runs in your browser · the PDF is never uploaded
Compress a PDF to 10 MB
Short answer
Drop your PDF into the compressor below. It’s pre-set to 9,765 KB so the file stays under 10 MB either way. Most assignment packs and multi-page scans fit with little quality loss — use this when the LMS says “max 10 MB”.
What fits in 10 MB
- Comfortably: Long scanned assignments and reports at good quality, or any typical text PDF unchanged.
- At the limit: Huge photo-heavy portfolios at lower DPI if the portal still rejects.
10 MB is a common course and LMS ceiling. Phone-scanned lecture packs often start far above it because each page is a multi-megabyte photo.
If Keep text already lands under 10 MB, stop there. Target size is for files that are still oversized after a gentle pass.
“Good quality” here means around 100 DPI, which looks sharp on a screen. These are rough guides, not promises: a page of plain text compresses far better than a colour photo, so check the preview.
How to compress a PDF to 10 MB
- 1
Drop your PDF into the compressor above, or tap it to choose a file. It’s already in Target size mode at 9765 KB.
- 2
Press Compress. A lossless rebuild runs first. If the file is still too big, the pages are re-rendered at lower resolutions, from 150 DPI down to 50 DPI, until it fits.
- 3
Check the preview of the first pages. Zoom in on the small print, such as dates, ID numbers and stamps, because that’s what blurs first.
- 4
Download the file and check its size on your device before uploading. On Windows, right-click and choose Properties; on a Mac, use Get Info. Compare the size in bytes with the limit.
- 5
Upload it. If the portal still says the file is too big, run the compressor again on the original with a slightly lower target.
Why the tool is set to 9765 KB, not 10 MB
Kilobytes are counted two ways. Some websites treat 1 KB as 1,000 bytes; others, and this compressor, treat it as 1,024. A file the compressor calls “10 MB” is 10,485,760 bytes, about 4.9% more than 10,000,000, and a strict portal will reject it.
9765 KB in the tool is 9,999,360 bytes, which is under 10 MB by either definition. You lose almost nothing in quality and avoid the most common “file too large” rejection.
If it won’t get down to 10 MB
The compressor stops at 50 DPI, because below that the text stops being readable. If even that pass is too big, you get the smallest readable file and a message saying so, instead of a file that technically fits but that nobody can read. These help:
- Scan at 150–200 DPI next time — 600 DPI scans are why assignments balloon.
- Remove blank pages before compressing.
- Split by week or chapter if one zip of PDFs still fails the portal.
- Split the document if the portal has more than one upload field. Split PDF breaks it into parts you can compress separately.
Limits worth knowing
- Re-rendered pages become images with an invisible text layer. Search and copy keep working, but accented and non-Latin characters can be dropped from that layer.
- Large or image-heavy PDFs take a while, because each pass re-renders every page on your device.
- Password-protected PDFs have to be unlocked first.
- A portal can reject a file for reasons other than size, such as the file type or characters in the file name.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compress a PDF for a 10 MB college upload?
Use this page. The compressor is pre-set just under 10 MB, tries a lossless pass first, then lowers resolution only if needed.Why is my scanned assignment still huge?
Each page is usually a large camera image. Lower scan DPI, crop margins, or split the file before compressing.Does this upload my coursework?
No. Compression runs entirely in your browser.
Guides for upload limits
- PDFs for government formsFrom phone photo to a PDF that passes the portal’s size limit, plus what you can and can’t hide.
- Exam application documentsMake a reusable “upload kit” of your certificates at the sizes exam forms ask for.
- Job and onboarding documentsPayslips, certificates, relieving letters and ID for HR portals, sized and checked.
- Visa application documentsUnlock bank statements, merge by category and get each file under the upload limit.
- PDF upload size limitsTypical caps for email and portals — and how to shrink toward them privately.
Written by Sumit · Last reviewed 12 Oct 2026