Split PDF

Splitting comes down to three choices: which file, which mode and which pages.

1. Drop one PDF on the upload area or click it to choose the file. The list shows its name and size. Choosing another file replaces it.
2. Open Mode. Every page as a separate PDF is the default and makes one file per page. Extract a page range into one PDF pulls your selection into a single new file.
3. For extraction, type the pages in the box labelled Pages (e.g. 1-3, 7, 10-12). Separate selections with commas and write ranges with a hyphen.
4. Click Split PDF. The pages are copied into new documents on your device.
5. Click Download beside a file, or Download all, which saves the files one after another. Your browser may ask permission to download several files.

Every-page files are named like report-page-1.pdf. An extracted file carries your range in its name, for example report-pages-1-3,7.pdf. Documents over 200 pages are refused in every-page mode, so use a range for those.

The range box follows familiar print-dialog habits, with a few details worth knowing.

Pages come out in the order you type them, so a range doubles as a way to reorder. Page numbers beyond the end of the file are ignored and listed in the result note, for example ignored page 20 (the file has 12). If no valid page remains you get an error. Open-ended entries such as 5- and words such as odd or last are not understood, and an entry the box cannot read is skipped silently, so check the page count in the result note: 1-3, 7, 10-12 on a 12-page file reports 7 of 12 pages. If the number is lower than you expected, look for a typing slip such as a missing comma between two selections.

The splitter uses pdf-lib to copy pages with the fonts, images and drawings they depend on. Nothing is rendered to a bitmap or recompressed, so text stays selectable and images keep their resolution. Because each output carries its own copy of shared fonts and images, the parts can add up to more than the original file.

• Send one chapter of a report, or one statement from a yearly bundle.
• Separate a scanned stack of receipts into individual files.
• Drop a cover page by extracting everything after it, such as 2-12 on a 12-page file.
• Pull the signature page out of a contract for countersigning.

Printed page numbers often differ from the position in the file, because covers and contents pages shift the count, so check the numbers in your PDF viewer before typing them. To put extracted pages together with others, use the merge PDF tool, and to fix a sideways page use rotate PDF.

The splitter has no page preview, no thumbnails and no way to split by size or by bookmarks, so it works from the page numbers you provide. If the count in the result note is not what you expected, correct the range and run it again; the original file is never changed. Password-protected files are refused with a message, since the tool never asks for passwords. Memory limits large scanned files, but ordinary documents of a few hundred pages split instantly. If you want pages as pictures instead, try the PDF to JPG converter, and to turn photos into a PDF in the first place use the image to PDF converter. All processing stays in your browser tab, so legal, financial and medical documents are not uploaded.