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Compress PDF for Email

You hit "send" and the email bounces back: "attachment too large." Gmail caps attachments at 25MB. Outlook allows 20MB. Yahoo gives you 25MB. And that scan of the signed contract is 47MB because the scanner captured it at unnecessary print resolution.

The knee-jerk solution is to upload the PDF to some cloud compressor, wait for processing, download a smaller version, and hope the quality is acceptable. But think about what you just did: you uploaded a confidential document, a contract, a medical report, a financial statement, to a server you have never heard of, just to make it smaller for email.

KuroPDF compresses your PDF right in the browser. Set a target size (try 8MB to be safe across all major email providers), and the engine recompresses embedded images at progressively lower quality until the file fits. Text and vector graphics stay perfectly sharp. Only the raster images are touched.

The result is a PDF that emails without bouncing, opens without waiting, and still looks professional. Your document never leaves your device during the entire process.

Compress for email →
  • Files never leave your device
  • No size limits
  • Free, no sign-up

How to compress pdf for email

  1. 1
    Load your PDF

    Drop the oversized PDF into the tool. It is parsed locally and never uploaded anywhere.

  2. 2
    Set target size

    Enter a target like 8MB (safe for all email providers) or 20MB (safe for Outlook). The engine iterates until the output fits.

  3. 3
    Download and attach

    Download the compressed PDF and attach it to your email. Text remains selectable and sharp.

Frequently asked questions

What size should I target for email?

For maximum compatibility across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and corporate mail servers: target 8-10MB. Gmail and Yahoo allow up to 25MB, Outlook up to 20MB, but many corporate servers cap at 10MB. Going smaller guarantees delivery.

Will the quality look bad?

For documents with text and a few images, you will rarely notice any difference. The engine only recompresses embedded images. Text, charts, and vector graphics remain perfectly crisp. Heavily image-based PDFs (photo albums, scanned documents) show more visible compression, but remain readable.

What if my PDF is mostly scanned pages?

Scanned PDFs are essentially page-sized images, so they compress aggressively. A 50MB scan can often reach 5MB with acceptable quality. Set a comfortable target and preview the result.

Is it safe for confidential documents?

Everything runs locally in your browser using WebAssembly. Because no data is uploaded to a cloud server, your files remain strictly private, and the entire process generates zero server carbon emissions, making it highly eco-friendly.

Can I compress multiple PDFs at once?

The tool processes one PDF at a time. Drop another file immediately after the first finishes for quick sequential compression.

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