How to split a PDF
A twelve-page scan where only page four matters. A bank statement you need to send without the rest of the year attached. Splitting a PDF is almost always about sending less, not more — and the page you leave out is the whole point.
Open the file, pick the pages you want, and download them as a new PDF. You can pull out a single page, keep a range, or cut the document into separate files. The original is never modified and nothing is uploaded to a server.
Split a PDF nowStep by step
- Open the PDF
Drop the file into the window. It is read in your browser, and every page appears as a thumbnail you can see before choosing anything.
- Choose what to keep
Select a single page, a range like 4-9, or several ranges at once. What you select is what ends up in the new file.
- Check the selection
Look at the thumbnails once more. Off-by-one is the classic mistake here, and it is much easier to catch now than after you have sent it.
- Download
You get a new PDF with only the pages you kept. The file you started from stays exactly as it was on your disk.
Extracting a page versus deleting the rest
These sound like the same operation and usually are, but they fail differently. Extracting means naming the pages you want; deleting means naming the pages you don't. When a document has forty pages and you need three, extraction is far less error-prone.
Whichever you pick, open the result before sending it. A split file that quietly kept the wrong page looks perfectly normal until the person on the other end reads it.
Splitting for privacy, not just for size
A payslip, a bank statement, a medical report: often you are asked for one page and the file contains eleven. Sending the whole document because splitting felt like work is how people end up sharing an address, an account number or a diagnosis nobody asked for.
Cutting the file down is the cheapest privacy measure there is. And if a page must go but part of it is still needed, redact the sensitive lines first, then split — in that order.
When splitting is not enough
If the aim is a smaller attachment, splitting helps only when the weight is spread across pages. One heavy scanned page will still be heavy on its own, so compress it afterwards.
If the aim is a document someone must not reassemble, remember that the pages you removed still exist in the original. Splitting hides nothing from the file you keep; it only controls what you hand over.
Frequently asked questions
Can I extract a single page?
Yes. Select just that page and download it; you get a one-page PDF and the original file on your disk is left untouched.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. The PDF is opened and split inside your browser, on your own device. Nothing is sent to a server and nothing is stored after you close the tab.
Does splitting reduce the quality of the pages?
No. The pages are copied as they are, at the same size and the same resolution. Only the number of pages changes.
Can I split a file that is password protected?
You need the password first. Unlock the document with it, then split the unlocked copy — no tool can read a page it cannot decrypt.