Split PDF files
Extract specific pages, split into ranges, or break a PDF into single pages. Free, fast, and 100% private, completely offline in your browser.
Drop a PDF file here
or click to choose from your device
Choose a PDFHow to split a PDF
- Click "Choose a PDF" or drag your file into the box above.
- Pick a mode: Extract to keep specific pages, Ranges to split into multiple files, or Every page for one file per page.
- Enter the pages (if needed) and click "Split PDF" — your file(s) download instantly.
What is "Split PDF"?
Splitting a PDF means producing one or more smaller PDFs from a larger one, where each output file contains a subset of the original pages. There are three common variations of this — and PDFtez handles all three.
- Extract pages picks specific page numbers (for example pages
1, 3, 5-7) and combines them into a single output PDF, in the order you list them. - Split by ranges takes a list of page ranges (for example
1-3, 4-7, 8-10) and produces one PDF per range, packaged as a ZIP so the download is a single file. - Every page produces a separate single-page PDF for every page in the document — also returned as a ZIP. Useful when you need to archive or distribute pages individually.
In all three modes, the original page data is copied byte-for-byte from the source PDF. Nothing is re-rendered, recompressed, or resampled — text stays selectable, fonts stay sharp, and embedded form fields are preserved where the PDF structure allows.
When to use Split PDF
Splitting is the right tool whenever a PDF arrives bigger than what you actually need to send, sign, archive, or share:
- Share a single page of a contract. You signed page 7 of a 40-page agreement and the counterparty needs only that page back. Extract page 7 and send a 1-page PDF instead of the full document.
- Separate scanned receipts. A multi-page scanner produced one PDF with twelve receipts on twelve pages — split into single-page PDFs so each receipt can be attached to its own expense line.
- Extract a chapter from a textbook or report. Pull pages 45–72 of a 300-page document into its own PDF for a study group or a focused review.
- Prepare legal exhibits. A scanned bundle from discovery needs to be broken into individual exhibits, each numbered and stored separately. Split by ranges produces a ZIP of exhibit PDFs in one click.
- Email a large PDF. Some email systems still cap attachments at 10 or 20 MB. Splitting a 60 MB report into 3 smaller files lets you send it in pieces without compressing the pages.
- Archive batch scans. An archive workflow needs each invoice as its own file. "Every page" mode delivers a ZIP of single-page PDFs ready to drop into a document management system.
How PDFtez splits your PDFs (under the hood)
PDFtez's Split tool runs entirely inside your browser. When you drop a file, the browser reads it into memory via the standard File API — nothing is sent to a server, and nothing is logged. The splitting itself is performed by pdf-lib, an open-source JavaScript library that can parse and write PDF binary structures directly in the browser. For each output file, pdf-lib creates a fresh in-memory PDF and copies the selected pages from the source.
When you split into multiple files (ranges or every-page mode), JSZip packages the outputs into a single ZIP that downloads to your device — again, all in the browser. You can confirm there is no upload by opening DevTools → Network while you split: you'll see no outgoing requests carrying your PDF data.
How is PDFtez Split different from other online PDF splitters?
Most "free" online PDF splitters — iLovePDF, SmallPDF, PDF24, Adobe's online tool — upload your file to a server, split it there, and serve back a download. That means your file is briefly on someone else's infrastructure, governed by their privacy policy. It also typically means daily limits, hard file-size caps, and constant prompts to upgrade to a paid tier.
PDFtez does the split on your device. There is no upload, no sign-in, no daily limit, and no premium tier. The trade-off is that very large PDFs (200 MB+) may briefly slow your browser — that is the price of keeping your file private. For most documents the operation finishes in well under a second.
Frequently asked questions
What page-range syntax does PDFtez accept?
Use commas to separate pages or ranges, and a hyphen to indicate a range. Examples that all work: 1, 3, 5-7, 2-10, 1, 4, 6, 8-12. Pages can be listed in any order and the output preserves the order you typed them in — useful when you want to reorder while extracting.
Is there a file size or page count limit?
There is no hard limit imposed by PDFtez. Most files under 100 MB split in under a second on a modern laptop. Files over 200 MB may briefly slow your browser depending on available RAM. For documents with more than 200 pages the "Every page" mode confirms before producing that many files.
Can I split password-protected PDFs?
PDFtez attempts to read encrypted PDFs in compatibility mode and will split them if the encryption allows page extraction. If a file is tightly locked with owner-password restrictions, use the Protect PDF tool first to remove the password (you'll need to know it), then split.
Does splitting lose quality?
No. Splitting copies page data exactly as it exists in the source file — there is no re-rendering, no recompression, and no resampling. Vector graphics stay vector, embedded fonts remain intact, and selectable text stays selectable.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. PDFtez works on any modern mobile browser including Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android. The interface is touch-friendly. The only practical limit on mobile is your device's available memory.
Where do my files go? Are they uploaded?
Your files stay on your device. The split runs entirely offline in your browser's memory using JavaScript. No file data is uploaded to any server, no copy is stored anywhere, and nothing is logged. You can verify this in your browser's DevTools by inspecting outgoing network requests while you split.