Split PDF online

Typical reasons to break a PDF apart

Splitting is the opposite of merging, and it comes up just as often:

• A scanner produced one long file for a whole stack of paper, and each document needs to be filed separately.
• A course pack or textbook PDF should become one file per chapter.
• Only pages 12 to 15 of a 200-page report are relevant to a colleague.
• A portal accepts at most 10 MB per upload, so a large file has to go in parts.
• A single page, such as a signed declaration, needs to be sent on its own.

Every page or custom ranges

After you drop a file, the tool shows its name and page count. Then you choose one of two modes.

Every page

Each page becomes its own PDF, named after the original with a page suffix: report-page-1.pdf, report-page-2.pdf and so on. A 40-page file gives 40 files, downloaded together as a ZIP. This mode suits scanned batches where every page is a separate document, such as receipts or one-page forms.

By ranges

Type the groups you want, separated by commas. Each group becomes one output file, named report-part-1.pdf, report-part-2.pdf and so on, numbered in the order you typed them. If only one group is produced, it downloads directly instead of as a ZIP.

How the range field is read

The syntax is short, but a few details are worth knowing before you rely on it:

• 4 is a single page; 4-9 is pages 4 through 9 inclusive.
• Spaces do not matter: 1-3,5 and 1 - 3, 5 are the same.
• Groups can overlap. 1-5, 3-8 gives two files that both contain pages 3 to 5, handy when each recipient needs the same cover pages.
• Output follows your order, not page order. 10-12, 1-2 makes part 1 from pages 10 to 12 and part 2 from pages 1 and 2.
• An end past the last page is cut to fit. On a 20-page file, 15-99 gives pages 15 to 20.
• A start past the last page, or a reversed range such as 9-4, produces nothing for that group, and the parts that follow are numbered without a gap.
• An open range runs to the end: 5- means page 5 through the last page.

Inside a group, pages always keep their original order. To reverse or shuffle pages, split them into single pages and merge them back in the order you want with merge PDF.

To pull out one chapter, a single group such as 23-41 is enough; you get one file and no ZIP.

What each part contains

Pages are copied without re-rendering, so text stays searchable and images keep their quality. Each part carries the fonts and images its pages use.

That has one side effect: parts can add up to more than the original. If a 3 MB report embeds 1 MB of fonts, splitting it into ten single pages may give ten files that each include the fonts they need, so the ZIP can be noticeably larger than the source. Each individual part, though, is usually much smaller than the whole.

Document-level extras do not carry over: bookmarks, document properties and interactive features tied to the whole file stay with the original.

Split, delete or extract

Splitting is not always the shortest route:

• To keep most pages and drop a few, use delete PDF pages. You click the unwanted pages and get one file back, without writing ranges.
• To keep a few pages out of many, splitting by range is quicker: type 12-15 and you are done.
• To divide a file for an upload limit, estimate from the page count. A 30 MB scan of 60 pages averages 0.5 MB per page, so ranges of 18 pages, 1-18, 19-36, 37-54, 55-60, keep each part under 10 MB. Scanned pages vary in size, so leave some margin.

One PDF is processed at a time, files up to 100 MB. Large documents work, but "every page" on a 500-page file produces 500 files, so ranges are usually the better choice there. Password-protected files are refused; unlock them with Unlock PDF before splitting.