Split a PDF into separate files
Splitting a PDF divides one document into two or more smaller PDFs, each containing a chosen range of the original pages at full quality. This tool splits a PDF by the page ranges you type, entirely in your browser, so the file is never uploaded. Enter ranges such as 1-3, 4-9, 10 and download one new PDF per range.
How it works
Internally, a PDF keeps its pages in a page tree: an ordered structure of page objects, where each page object references its own content stream (the text and drawing operators) and a resource dictionary (the fonts, images, and graphics states that stream uses). Because pages are self-describing units, extracting a range means creating a brand-new, empty PDF document and copying the selected page objects into it, one range per output file.
Each copy is a deep copy. The page dictionary alone is useless without the objects it references, so the copier walks the reference graph from the page downward — content streams, font descriptors and embedded font programs, image XObjects, annotation dictionaries — and brings every reachable object along. Object numbers from the source cannot be reused, so all copied objects are renumbered in the destination and their cross-references rewritten. The compressed data inside those objects is transferred untouched: no image is re-encoded and no glyph outline is regenerated, which is why a split is lossless by construction.
One consequence worth knowing: resources that were stored once and shared across the whole source document get duplicated into every part that needs them. A font subset embedded once in a 60-page report will appear in each of the six chapter files you split it into. That is also why splitting cannot "free" space the way compression does — it only redistributes pages.
After the ranges are copied, the tool serializes each new document — writing its objects, a cross-reference table, and a trailer — and hands you the files as downloads. The original file on your disk is never modified.
Worked example: one 24-page report into three chapters
Take a 24-page project report, report.pdf, at 3.6 MB: pages 1–4 are the summary, pages 5–16 the main body, and pages 17–24 the appendix with photographs. Enter the ranges 1-4, 5-16, 17-24 and run the split.
You get three files: report-part-1.pdf (4 pages, ~410 KB), report-part-2.pdf (12 pages, ~980 KB), and report-part-3.pdf (8 pages, ~2.4 MB). The appendix is by far the largest despite having fewer pages than the body, because the photo JPEGs dominate the byte count and are copied verbatim. The three parts total about 3.79 MB — slightly more than the original 3.6 MB, since the report's embedded fonts now exist in all three files. Every page remains searchable and selectable exactly as before.
Split PDF — frequently asked questions
How do I split a PDF so every page becomes its own file?
Enter each page as its own range, for example 1, 2, 3, 4 for a four-page file, and each number produces a separate single-page PDF. For long documents this is tedious to type but works for any page count.
Does splitting a PDF lower the quality of the pages?
No. Splitting copies the original page objects, including their images and fonts, into the new files without re-encoding. Each extracted page is visually and textually identical to the page in the source document.
Can the same page appear in more than one output file?
Yes. Ranges are independent, so 1-5 and 5-10 both include page 5, which is copied into both output files. Overlapping ranges are useful when sections share a title or divider page.
Why is each split file larger than its share of the original?
Resources shared by many pages in the source, such as an embedded font, must be duplicated into every output file that uses them. A 10 MB PDF split into five parts can therefore total more than 10 MB across the parts.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere when I split it?
No. The file is read and split by JavaScript running in your browser tab, and the output files are assembled in memory on your device. Nothing is transmitted over the network.
Can I split an encrypted or password-protected PDF?
Not while it is still encrypted, because the page objects cannot be copied without decrypting them. Unlock the file first using the password you know, then split the unlocked copy.