Delete pages from PDF

When deleting pages is the right move

Most PDFs that need trimming have a handful of pages too many rather than too few useful ones:

• Scanned documents with blank backs of single-sided sheets, or a separator page the scanner added.
• Bank statements where the last two pages are terms and conditions nobody asked for.
• A contract template that still contains an annex you are not using.
• A presentation export where hidden or backup slides ended up in the PDF.
• Pages that contain information you should not share, such as a page with an account number in a document you forward to a third party.

If you only need a few pages out of many, split PDF with a range is faster. Deleting is the better fit when you keep most of the document.

How the selection works

After you drop a file, its pages appear as a grid of numbered squares, one per page. Clicking a number marks that page for removal and turns it red; clicking again unmarks it. The button below the grid shows how many pages will be removed, so you can double-check before running it.

A few practical details:

• The numbers are physical positions, counted from the first page of the file. They are not the page numbers printed on the paper. A book PDF whose front matter is numbered i, ii, iii will show its printed page 1 as grid number 4 or later. Check the position in your PDF viewer first; most viewers show both, for example "4 (1 of 120)".
• You cannot remove every page. The button disappears when all pages are selected, because a PDF with zero pages is not a valid document.
• One file at a time. Dropping a new file starts over with a fresh, empty selection.
• The result is a new file named after the original with -trimmed added. The source file on your disk is never touched.

Is deleted content really gone

This matters when the reason for deleting is privacy. The tool does not hide pages or mark them as removed. It builds a new PDF and copies only the pages you kept, together with the resources those pages reference. The text and drawing instructions of deleted pages are not written to the new file.

Three caveats are worth keeping in mind:

• Anything visible on a kept page stays, of course. If a sensitive number appears on page 3 as well as on page 7, deleting page 7 is not enough.
• Some PDFs store one shared collection of images and fonts for all pages. In such files an image from a deleted page can still travel along inside the new file, unseen but extractable. For highly sensitive scans, convert the kept pages to images and back, or rescan.
• Document properties such as title and author are not copied into the new file, which is also helpful when sharing.

What changes in the remaining document

Pages are copied as they are, with no re-rendering, so text remains searchable, images keep their quality and each page keeps its size and orientation.

What you may notice:

• The file usually gets smaller, roughly in proportion to what you removed. Removing 10 scanned pages from a 40-page scan typically cuts about a quarter of the size.
• Bookmarks and outline entries are dropped, since they belong to the document rather than to individual pages.
• Printed page numbers do not update. If the original said "Page 5 of 12" in the footer, it still says that. Clickable "go to page" links inside the document may also point to the wrong place once pages have shifted.

If the gaps in the printed numbering would confuse readers, stamp fresh numbers on the trimmed file with add page numbers, choosing a corner the old footer does not use.

A quick workflow for scanned paperwork

1. Open the scan in your usual viewer and note the positions of blank or unwanted pages, for example 2, 4, 6 and 19.
2. Drop the file here, click those numbers, and check the count on the button.
3. Download the trimmed file and flip through it once before sending.

Files up to 100 MB are supported, including scans with hundreds of pages. Password-protected PDFs should be unlocked first, otherwise the remaining pages may come out blank.