Split PDF
Put scissors between any two pages and the document becomes several files. Or switch to picking pages, and keep only the ones you want.
- Every page on screen, with a pair of scissors on every seam
- The scissors and the ranges field are the same thing: move one, the other follows
- Cut every n pages, or in half, in one click
- Several files come back as one archive, not a burst of downloads
Nothing is uploaded. One document at a time. To combine several, use Merge PDF.
Just looking?
- Files
- 0
- Pages kept
- 0
Split, or extract?
| Split | Extract | |
|---|---|---|
| The question | Where do the seams go? | Which pages do I keep? |
| Every page | Ends up in one of the files | Most are discarded |
| You click | The scissors between pages | The pages themselves |
| You get | Several files | One file, or one per page |
| Good for | Breaking a report into chapters | Pulling three pages out of a scan |
What the ranges field understands
| Typed | On a 12-page document |
|---|---|
| 6 | A cut after page 6, two files, 1-6 and 7-12 |
| 1-3, 4-8 | Three files: 1-3, 4-8, and the remaining 9-12 |
| 4, 8 | Three files: 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 |
| 9- | Two files: 1-8 and 9-12 |
| -4 | Two files: 1-4 and 5-12 |
| 3-1 | Read as 1-3. A backwards range is a typo, not an error |
The field and the scissors are two views of the same thing. Type a range and the scissors move; click a seam and the field rewrites itself.
What you can hand it
| Input | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2 to 3,000 pages | Fine. The ceiling is memory for the thumbnails |
| A one-page PDF | Refused: there is nothing to split |
| A password-protected PDF | Refused by name. It was protected for a reason |
| Several PDFs at once | The first is opened and the rest named. For combining, use Merge PDF |
Why the scissors and the field are the same thing
Most split tools give you a text box and a preview that does not respond to it, or a visual picker with no way to type. Both halves exist, and they disagree the moment you use one of them.
Here there is one set of cut positions underneath, and the scissors and the field are two
views onto it. Type 1-3, 4-8 and the scissors appear on those seams. Click a
seam and the field rewrites itself to match. There is no state to get out of sync, because
there is only one.
Several files come back as one archive
A twelve-way split means twelve downloads, and a browser will throttle a burst of those and then block the rest, so you get some unknown number of them and no indication which are missing. Past a single file, the result is one ZIP instead.
Each file can be renamed before you save, and any one of them can be downloaded on its own from the list.
Nothing is re-encoded
Pages are copied into the new documents with their own content intact: the text stays text, vectors stay vectors, and images are not re-compressed. A split file is smaller than the original only because it has fewer pages in it.
What it will not do
- Open a protected PDF. Refused by name rather than quietly unlocked.
- Keep bookmarks, or links that point inside the document. Both refer to pages that may no longer be in the same file.
- Preserve tagging for accessibility. The structure tree does not survive being divided; split at the source if that matters.
- Split by content. It cuts where you say, not at chapter headings, nothing here reads the text.
Questions
Is my file uploaded?
No. It is read, cut and written entirely in this tab. There is no server, which is also why there is no size limit and no queue.
What is the difference between Split and Extract?
Split divides the whole document into several files and every page ends up somewhere. Extract keeps the pages you pick and discards the rest.
Can I get one file per page?
Yes. In Split mode, set "cut every 1 pages" and press Cut. Or in Extract mode, turn off "put them all in one file".
Does splitting lose quality?
No. Pages are copied, not redrawn or re-compressed.
Why was my PDF refused?
It is password protected, has only one page, or is damaged past the point the parser can read it. Each of those is named rather than failing silently.
Can I rename the output files?
Yes, individually in the list, or all at once with the name field. A name you type survives the next change to the cuts.