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Help center

Frequently asked questions.

How PDF-Snap works, what we do (and do not) do with your data, and credits for third-party software we ship in the browser.

General

What is PDF-Snap?
A free browser-based toolkit at pdf-snap.com: compress, split, and merge PDFs, plus a separate page to compress images. All file processing runs locally in your tab using JavaScript — we do not upload, store, or log your documents or images.
Do I need to create an account?
No. There's no signup, no login, and no quota. Open the page, use the tools, close the tab.
Is there a file size limit?
No artificial limit. The practical ceiling is your device's available RAM — modern laptops handle 200+ MB PDFs without issue, while phones may struggle past 50 MB.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes, on iOS and Android browsers. Performance scales with your device, but the same privacy guarantee applies — nothing leaves the phone.
Can I use it offline?
Mostly, yes. After the page and its scripts have loaded from the network, you can disconnect and continue using the tools in that tab. You will need a connection again if you refresh the page or open the site in a new tab, because the app is not installed as a native app.

Compress

How much can compression actually save?
[PL] It depends on structure, not image quality changes. PDFs already optimized for web may shrink only a few percent. Metadata-heavy exports and files with redundant object streams often shrink more. Since PDF-Snap does not re-encode embedded images, scan-heavy files may see limited savings. Try a level and compare — your original file is never modified.
What's the difference between Light, Balanced, and Maximum?
[PL] Light is a lossless re-pack that keeps metadata. Balanced strips metadata fields and optimizes object streams. Maximum runs Balanced cleanup plus timestamp normalization and a second structural pass. None of the levels re-encode page images, so visible quality stays the same.
Will compression reduce my PDF's quality?
No. PDF-Snap does not downsample images or re-encode page content. It only re-packs the file structure and removes redundant metadata, so the visible document is identical.

Split

How do I split a PDF into multiple files?
Drop your PDF, then click Choose split points. In the modal, click the scissors control between page thumbnails to mark where the document should break. Green marks are active split points. The summary shows how many files you will get. Confirm to run the split; each file downloads separately (or use Download all when offered).
How do I get one PDF per page?
Open split points between every pair of pages (click each gap so every boundary is active). That produces one file per page. Single-page PDFs cannot be split further.
What library renders the thumbnails?
Page previews use Mozilla's PDF.js in your browser only — thumbnails are not sent to us.

Merge

How many PDFs can I combine at once?
There's no hard limit. Performance depends on your device's memory, but combining dozens of typical documents works fine on a modern laptop.
Can I reorder files before merging?
Yes. Click Set merge order, then drag each row by its handle until the list matches the order you want in the final PDF. To reorder pages inside one PDF, split it first, then merge the exported parts in the order you want.

Image compress

Where is the image compressor?
Open Image Compress from the header. It uses the same local-only idea as the PDF tools: your image is processed in the browser and is not uploaded to our servers.
Which formats are supported?
Common raster formats such as JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, and GIF, plus HEIC/HEIF where your browser can decode them. Output type depends on the library and your file; very small savings may be treated as "already well compressed" with no download offered.

Privacy & data

Where do my files actually go?
They stay in this browser tab's memory. When the tab closes, your operating system reclaims that memory and the file is gone — no server copy, no temp folder we control.
Can I use this for sensitive or confidential documents?
In many scenarios, yes — your file is not uploaded to our servers and processing happens entirely in your browser. PDF-Snap is a free general-purpose tool: we do not provide compliance certifications, contracts, or formal assurances for any specific regulatory framework. If your organisation is subject to legal or industry rules about how files are handled, please use your own legal or compliance review to decide whether PDF-Snap fits your requirements.
How can I verify nothing is uploaded?
Open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, and process a file. You'll see no outbound requests carrying file data. You can also disconnect from Wi-Fi after the page loads — the tools still work.

Why is this free?

Why is this free?

The PDF and image tools are free to use because processing happens in your browser — there is no paywall, no per-file fee, and no account required. Site hosting and development are funded primarily through display advertising on the pages you visit, according to the choice you make on our cookie banner (personalised versus cookieless paths). The next question explains how that revenue model works in more detail.

How does PDF-Snap make money?
Display advertising through third-party ad networks. We do not charge for the tools, we do not sell your files, and we do not build a profile of your document contents — we never receive those files on our servers.
Do the ads or ad networks see my PDF or image files?
No. Your files stay in this page's JavaScript memory for processing. Advertisement iframes and scripts from ad networks run in separate browsing contexts and cannot read your chosen files or tool outputs. Ad networks may still process standard web data (such as IP-derived location, device type, or cookie IDs) for delivery and measurement — see our Privacy and Cookie policy.
Do you collect personal data for the tools themselves?
We do not ask you to log in, we do not upload your documents, and we do not operate first-party analytics on tool usage. Like any website, our host receives technical request data when you load a page; third-party fonts and script CDNs may log requests to their domains. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

Open source libraries

PDF.js 3.11.174 — Apache License 2.0; pdf-lib — MIT; browser-image-compression — MIT; JSZip — MIT.