# How mypdf.space works

> Your PDF is opened in this browser tab. The 67 tools read and write file bytes on your device. We do not run a PDF upload API.

Canonical: https://mypdf.space/how-it-works
Last updated: 2026-10-26

## 1. You open a file locally

Drop a PDF (or image, Word, Excel, where the tool supports it) into the workspace. The browser reads it with the File API. Nothing is posted to mypdf.space as a document upload.

## 2. Processing runs in the tab

Merge, compress, redact, OCR, and convert use client-side libraries (pdf-lib, PDF.js, Tesseract WASM, and similar). Heavy work often runs in Web Workers on your CPU. The result is another local file you download.

## 3. Verify with the Network tab

1. Open DevTools → Network. Filter to Fetch/XHR if you like.
2. Run [Compress](https://mypdf.space/compress-pdf) or [Privacy checker](https://mypdf.space/check-pdf-for-hidden-data) on a sample file.
3. You should not see a multipart upload of your PDF to our origin. Page analytics may fire; they do not carry file bytes.
4. Install the app (PWA) and try again offline — many tools still work.

## How we make money

Tools are free: no account, no watermark, no document counter. Optional support is a tip jar (Buy Me a Coffee). We may show non-intrusive ads or analytics to understand which pages help people. We do not sell your documents — we never receive them. Details: [Privacy](https://mypdf.space/privacy).

## Related

- [Security methodology](https://mypdf.space/security-methodology)
- [Privacy](https://mypdf.space/privacy)
- [Changelog](https://mypdf.space/changelog)