Splitting a PDF isn't cutting a file in half — it's building N new documents, one per page, each whose page tree references only the objects that page actually needs (fonts, images, content streams), while leaving everything else behind. Done right, the extracted pages come out at full original fidelity, because nothing gets re-rendered; the tool just walks the object graph and copies what's reachable from each page.
What this tool actually does
Upload a PDF and click Split & Download: every page becomes its own single-page PDF (yourfile_page1.pdf, yourfile_page2.pdf, and so on), and all of them are packaged together into one .zip file for download. There's no range picker ("just pages 5–10") or thumbnail-based page selection today — it's all pages, every time. If you only need a subset, extract the full split ZIP and delete the pages you don't want, or merge the specific single-page files you do want back into one document.
We deliberately zip the output instead of triggering one download per page: browsers (Chrome in particular) block automatic multi-file downloads past a small threshold unless you explicitly allow it, so a 20-page PDF used to only deliver its first few pages before silently stopping. A single zip download sidesteps that limit entirely.
What gets left behind
Splitting only carries over what each extracted page directly references. Two things worth knowing:
- Bookmarks that point to other pages are dropped — a bookmark on page 3 that links to page 47 has nothing to resolve to once each page is its own document.
- Shared resources are duplicated, not lost. If pages 5 and 6 both use the same embedded font, that font gets copied into both single-page outputs — PDFs don't let a page "borrow" a resource it doesn't carry a reference to. This means the total size of the zip can end up larger than the original file for documents with many shared fonts/images.
Common uses
- Breaking a scanned bulk job into individually-named page files before archiving
- Pulling one specific page out of a large document to send on its own
- Isolating pages for further processing (e.g. re-merging only the ones you need)
- Removing a blank cover sheet a scanner added — download the zip, delete that one file, merge the rest back together
FAQ
What's the maximum file size for splitting?
100MB on the free plan, 500MB on Premium — both processed entirely in your browser's memory, so there's no upload wait regardless of file size.
Does splitting affect image or text quality?
No. Since pages are copied at the object level rather than re-rendered, embedded fonts stay embedded and image resolution is untouched.
Can I split a password-protected PDF?
Not directly — encrypted PDFs need to be parsed at the object level to split, which requires the password. Run it through Unlock PDF first if you have legitimate access to it.
Can I pick specific pages instead of getting all of them?
Not yet — every page in the source PDF becomes a file in the output zip. A range/thumbnail picker for selecting a subset is a reasonable feature to add later, but isn't built today.
Is this safe for HIPAA-regulated or government documents?
The processing itself never leaves your browser, which meets the "no third-party storage" bar many such policies require — but compliance obligations are yours to verify for your specific use case; see our privacy policy for exactly what does and doesn't happen to your data.