Split PDF
Click the pages you want, or split by ranges.
- 100% freeNo account, no daily quota, no paid tier.
- Nothing is uploadedFiles are processed on your device and never reach a server.
- No catch on the outputNo watermark, no forced downscaling, no size cap.
- Updated in the openEvery fix and every new tool is written down on the changelog page.
What this PDF splitter does
Drop one PDF and every page appears as a thumbnail. Click the ones you want and they become a single new file — which is also how you delete pages: keep what you need, leave the rest unclicked. 'Page ranges' covers the other case, one file per range: type 1-3, 5, 8- and you get three files. 'Every N pages' chops a long document into equal chunks, and an N of 1 gives one file per page. In all three modes each thumbnail carries the number of the file it will end up in, so the plan is visible before you click.
The original page size, rotation, text and images are preserved exactly; nothing is re-rendered. Results appear as a list with page counts; download them one by one or all together as a ZIP. Everything runs in your browser with the pdf-lib library — no upload, no file size cap, no watermark, no account, and it works offline once loaded.
How to use it
Drop or select a PDF; every page is rendered as a thumbnail. In 'Selected pages', click the pages you want — All and None are there for the sweeping cases — and the pages you left out fade back. For 'Page ranges', type page numbers separated by commas: a single number (5), a range (2-6), an open range (8- means 'to the end', -3 means 'from the start'). Overlapping ranges are allowed — 1-4 and 3-6 simply produce two files that share pages 3 and 4. Click Split, wait for the progress bar, then download. Output files are named after the source with the page numbers appended (report-p1-3.pdf), so they sort correctly in a folder.
The pieces can go straight to the merger — for example to reassemble a document with its chapters in a new order — or to PDF to image when one page needs to become a picture. Your chosen mode and chunk size are remembered on this device. To delete or reorder pages visually on a thumbnail grid — drag to rearrange, click to remove — use Organize PDF instead.
Common pitfalls
Page numbers in the range box are physical positions, starting at 1 from the first page of the file, not the printed numbers on the page — a book whose introduction is numbered i–xii has its chapter 1 at physical page 13. That is what the thumbnails are for: click the page instead of counting it. Ranges beyond the last page are clipped rather than rejected, so 8- on a 6-page file yields nothing.
Files that need a password to open cannot be split until decrypted; files that merely restrict printing or copying work normally. Bookmarks and form fields are not carried into the pieces. Splitting does not shrink pages: a 50 MB scanned book split into ten chapters gives ten files that together are still about 50 MB — if a piece is too big to send, convert the pages to images, compress them and rebuild with image to PDF.
Background: pages inside a PDF
A PDF stores its pages as a tree of page objects, each pointing to a content stream (the drawing instructions) and a resource dictionary (fonts, images, colour spaces). Extracting pages means copying the chosen page objects and every resource they reference into a fresh document and rewriting the cross-reference table. Because resources are shared inside a file, a single page from a 300-page report may still carry the fonts used by the whole report — which is why a one-page extract is sometimes larger than one three-hundredth of the original.
The tool uses pdf-lib to do this in JavaScript inside your browser. Object streams are enabled on save to keep the pieces compact. Since nothing leaves your device, splitting a payslip, a medical report or a signed contract raises none of the questions an upload service would.
Where splitting PDFs is needed
Sending only the relevant pages of a long contract; extracting one chapter from a textbook for a class; separating a batch scan of many invoices into one file each; removing the blank page a duplex scanner added at the end; pulling the signature page out of an agreement; breaking a 200-page manual into sections small enough for an email attachment; splitting a combined bank statement into monthly files for bookkeeping; and creating single-page PDFs for systems that accept one page per upload.
Splitting is the counterpart of merging: together they let you rebuild any document from parts. To turn a page into a picture for a slide or a chat message, follow up with PDF to image; to add pages that only exist as photos, make them a PDF with image to PDF and merge.
Frequently asked questions
How do I extract just a few pages into one file?
Stay in 'Selected pages' and click them on the grid, or type them under 'Page ranges' if you prefer. You get a single PDF containing only those pages, in order.
How do I delete pages?
Click the pages you want to keep, then split; everything left unclicked is dropped. For a 10-page file, keeping 1-4 and 6-10 deletes page 5.
Is the PDF uploaded?
No. Splitting runs in your browser with pdf-lib; the page works offline once loaded.
Why is a one-page extract still large?
Fonts and images are shared across a file, and the extracted page must carry everything it references. Text-heavy pages are small; scanned pages are as big as their image.
Can I split a scanned or password-protected PDF?
Scanned PDFs split normally (each page is an image). Files that require a password to open must be unlocked first; files that only restrict printing work fine.