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Split a PDF

Cut one long PDF into several smaller ones. Type the ranges you want, split into equal chunks, or break every page into its own file, then download the parts one by one or together as a ZIP.

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or drop one here

How to use

  1. Choose the PDF you want to split.
  2. Pick a method: page ranges, every N pages, or every page separately.
  3. For ranges, type something like 1-3, 5, 8-10. Each comma-separated item becomes one output file.
  4. Check the summary line, which lists the files that will be made, then select Split PDF.
  5. Save each file individually, or use Download all as ZIP.

How it works

The range text is parsed into a list of page groups. Page numbers are positions in the file (the first page is 1), not the numbers printed on the pages. Spaces are ignored, a range written backwards such as 9-7 is read as 7-9, "8-" means page 8 to the end and "-3" means pages 1 to 3. A page past the end, a zero, or anything that is not a number or range is rejected with a message rather than guessed at.

For each group, pdf-lib copies those pages from the source into a fresh document and saves it. The optional ZIP is built in the browser by fflate, a small open-source library, with no compression because PDFs are already compressed internally.

Worked example

A 10-page file split with "1-3, 5, 8-10" produces three files: report_p1-3.pdf (3 pages), report_p5.pdf (1 page) and report_p8-10.pdf (3 pages). Pages 4, 6 and 7 are not included anywhere.

The same file split "every 3 pages" produces four files: pages 1–3, 4–6, 7–9 and a final file with just page 10.

Limitations

  • Ranges may overlap on purpose — "1-5, 5-9" makes two files that both contain page 5.
  • Bookmarks, document-wide form fields and attachments are not copied into the parts.
  • Splitting a very long document into single pages creates many downloads; use the ZIP option to keep your downloads folder tidy.
  • Encrypted PDFs are refused with an explanation.

Questions

Do the page numbers refer to the numbers printed on the pages?

No. They refer to the position of the page in the file, starting at 1. If a book's page printed as 1 is actually the fifth page of the PDF, type 5.

What happens to pages I do not list?

In range mode they are simply left out of the output. Your original file is never modified.

Why is each part almost as large as the original?

If pages share large resources such as embedded fonts or a background image, each part needs its own copy of those resources. This is normal.

Can I split by file size instead of by pages?

Not at the moment. A workable approach is to split every N pages and adjust N until the parts are small enough.

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