Remove pages from PDF Portable Document Format Free Online Secure
Name the pages to drop — 3, 5, 7-9 — and get the file back without them.
Work on your PDF
Drop a PDF here, or choose one.
Your file never leaves this device. Everything runs in your browser.
Nothing uploaded
Why pages can be moved at all
Inside a PDF, the pages are not a continuous stream. Each one is a separate object, and a catalogue at the front lists them in order, the way a card index lists the cards in a drawer. Rearranging, adding or removing pages therefore means editing the catalogue and the objects it points to, not re-rendering the document. That is why merging two files takes an instant while converting one to Word takes a while, and it is why a page keeps exactly the appearance it had — nothing about it is recalculated. The structure dates from the format's first version in 1993 and has survived every revision since.
Where you need it
Putting a scanned signature page back with the contract it belongs to; splitting a two-hundred-page report so that each department receives its own section; taking the appendix out of a submission because the portal has a size limit; removing the blank pages a scanner inserted; numbering the pages of a document assembled out of several. Most of this is paperwork that would once have meant a photocopier and a stapler.
Questions people ask
Do links and bookmarks survive?
Links within a document — a table of contents pointing to a chapter — survive if the pages they point to are still there, and break if those pages were removed, exactly as a reference to a torn-out page would. Links to web addresses are unaffected. Bookmarks are usually carried over when merging and are the first thing to check afterwards, since they are also the first thing a reader will use.
Why is the merged file bigger than the two originals added together?
Usually fonts. Each document carries its own copy of the fonts it uses, and a simple merge keeps both copies even when they are the same font, so a little weight is added at every join. The effect is noticeable when merging many small files, and barely visible when merging two large ones. If size matters, compressing the merged file afterwards generally recovers most of it.
Does the file lose quality?
It depends on what the two formats can hold. Converting between formats that store the same thing — a PNG to a BMP, a WAV to a FLAC — loses nothing. Converting into a format that throws information away to save space, such as JPEG or MP3, loses a little every time, and converting back does not bring it back. Where a choice exists, this page errs towards keeping the original quality rather than making the smallest file.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, on your own machine; the file never leaves it and there is no server here that could receive it. That is why a large file is limited by your own memory rather than by an upload, and why nothing you convert can appear in anybody's logs — including ours. The audio and video tools do fetch their conversion engine from this site the first time you use them, some thirty megabytes once; after that the work still happens entirely on your machine.
Why people remove pages from a PDF
A PDF often arrives with pages nobody wants. A blank sheet at the end of a scan. A cover page you do not need. Pages of terms and conditions that are not relevant to the person you are sending it to. A draft stamp page, an advert page, a duplicated page, a page with a mistake that has been corrected elsewhere. In each case the simplest fix is to remove pages from the PDF and keep the rest. You end up with the same document, minus the pages that were in the way.
It is also a tidy way to prepare a file for sharing. When you remove pages from a PDF before sending, the reader gets only what concerns them, the file is smaller, and the details on the dropped pages stay with you. Fewer pages means less to read, less to store and less that can go wrong.
This page lets you remove pages from a PDF entirely in your browser. The file is not uploaded to a server, which matters for contracts, medical papers and personal documents. Below you will find how to name the pages, what the result looks like, what this tool does not do, and how to avoid the usual slips.
How to say which pages to remove
Single pages and ranges
You name the pages to drop the way people usually write them: single pages separated by commas and ranges joined by a dash. So 3, 5, 7-9 means page 3, page 5 and pages 7, 8 and 9. You can mix as many singles and ranges as you need. Everything you did not name stays.
Counting pages correctly
The numbers refer to the position of each page in the file, as your PDF reader counts them, which may differ from the numbers printed on the pages. A document that starts with a cover or a contents page often has its page 1 printed on the third page of the file. Check against the counter in your reader before you remove pages from the PDF, or you may delete the neighbour of the page you meant.
A quick way to be sure
Open the PDF in any reader and go to the page you want gone. Look at the page counter in the toolbar, which shows something like 6 of 40. That is the number to type. If it disagrees with the printed number on the page, trust the counter.
What the result looks like
Everything else, exactly as it was
When you remove pages from a PDF here, every page you did not name is kept exactly as it was. Pages are copied into the new file rather than redrawn, so text stays selectable, images keep their sharpness and each page keeps its size and rotation. The result is your original document with the unwanted pages simply not there.
Why copying is better than redrawing
Some tools print the pages you want to keep into a new file, which re-renders them and can turn selectable text into a picture. Copying keeps them intact. The shortened document behaves like the original: you can search it, select text and zoom in without loss.
What this tool does not do
It removes whole pages, not details on a page
This is the most important limit to understand. When you remove pages from a PDF, the pages you name disappear completely. But the pages that stay are untouched, and that includes anything on them you might have wanted to hide. If a remaining page shows an account number, a name or a signature that should not be visible, removing other pages does nothing to it. Hiding details on a page is called redaction, and it is a different job needing a different tool.
Why this matters for privacy
It is easy to assume that "cleaning up" a PDF removes sensitive details. Removing pages only works if the sensitive information is on the pages you remove. Before you send, open the result and look at each remaining page. If something private is still visible, you need to deal with it another way.
Bookmarks and form fields
The page content is carried over; some extras attached to the original are not. Bookmarks, the outline in a reader's side panel, do not come across, and neither do interactive form fields. A form page that remains will look the same, but its fields will no longer be fillable.
Signed documents
A digital signature is tied to the exact contents of the original file. Once you remove pages from a signed PDF, the new file is different and the signature no longer applies. If the document must stay signed, send the whole file.
What happens when you remove pages from PDF files
A PDF is a document made of pages, each of which records exactly where every letter and picture sits. That fixed record is why a PDF looks the same on every device. When you remove pages from PDF files, a program copies every page you want to keep into a new file and leaves out the ones you named. Nothing about the kept pages is altered; only the set of pages is different. Your original stays whole, so you can remove pages from PDF again, with a different selection, whenever you need to.
That is how this page works. It reads your PDF in the browser, copies the pages you did not name into a new document and gives it back. Because it copies rather than redraws, you can remove pages from PDF documents of any kind, scanned or typed, large or small, and every remaining page keeps its text, images and dimensions.
Remove pages from PDF versus printing a selection
A common workaround is to print only the pages you want to a virtual PDF printer. That re-renders them, which can turn selectable text into a picture, change fonts and enlarge the file. Copying avoids all of that. If you have ever tried to remove pages from PDF by printing and found the text could no longer be searched, this is the reason, and it is why a real removal is better.
Typical pages people remove
Some pages are removed so often that they are worth listing. Blank pages come first: double-sided scanning leaves one after every single-sided sheet, and a scanner may add a trailing blank. Then come cover sheets and fax pages that were useful in transit but are noise afterwards. Next are advertisements and navigation pages in articles saved as PDF. Then duplicates, where the same page was scanned twice. And finally pages the recipient should not see, such as internal comments or an unrelated annex.
For all of these, the quickest approach is to remove pages from PDF by number. Scroll through the file once, note the page numbers from the reader's counter, and type them as a list. It takes less time than you would spend deciding what to do.
Blank pages from double-sided scanning
If you scan double-sided and some sheets are blank on the back, you will get a blank page after each one. In a ten-sheet scan that is up to ten pages to drop. Because blanks tend to follow a pattern, such as every second page, check the file in your reader and list them: for example 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. Then remove pages from PDF in one go and keep the result.
Removing pages without losing track
When you remove pages from PDF files, the page numbers of everything after the removed pages shift down. If you remove page 3 from a forty-page file, the old page 4 becomes the new page 3. This matters if you keep notes referring to page numbers, or if the document has a printed contents list that cites them. After you remove pages from PDF, any references to specific pages may no longer line up.
If the numbering matters, the cleanest approach is to remove pages from PDF first, and add page numbers to the shortened document afterwards. The numbers then run correctly from one to the end, whatever the original numbering was. A fresh, consistent sequence is easier for the reader to follow than a document with gaps in its pagination.
Adding fresh numbers afterwards
Use the page numbering tool after you remove pages from PDF. It stamps new numbers on the result, and you choose where they sit and which page counts as one. Keep in mind that numbers printed on the original pages remain; the tool adds new numbers rather than replacing old ones.
How to remove pages from a PDF here
Add your PDF
Drop the PDF onto the page or pick it from your device. It is read inside your browser and is not uploaded.
Name the pages to drop
Type the pages you want removed, such as 3, 5, 7-9. Check them against your reader's page counter.
Remove and check
Press the button and download the new PDF. Open it, scroll through, and confirm that the unwanted pages are gone and the rest are in order. Check the page count: if the original had forty pages and you removed five, the new file should have thirty-five.
Tips for a clean result
Decide by looking at the document
Scroll through the PDF first and write down the pages to drop. Doing this before you start prevents mistakes caused by trying to remember page numbers.
Keep the original
Removing pages never changes your original file, but keep it anyway. If you removed a page that turned out to matter, you can start again from the original.
Rotate and compress as needed
If some remaining pages are the wrong way up, rotate them. If the file is still too big for an upload form, compress the PDF.
Questions people ask before removing pages
Is the quality affected?
No. Pages are copied at their original size and quality. Nothing is redrawn.
Does this black out text on the pages that remain?
No. It removes whole pages only. To hide details on a page, you need a redaction tool.
What is the difference between removing and extracting?
To remove pages from a PDF means to keep everything except the pages you name. Extracting pages means to keep only the pages you name. Use whichever needs the shorter list.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser and the file never leaves your device.
Who needs to remove pages from a PDF
Anyone tidying a scan
Scanners often add blank pages, especially after double-sided scanning. Dropping them makes the document shorter and neater.
Anyone sending a document on
Remove the pages that are not for the recipient, such as internal notes, cover sheets or unrelated annexes.
Students and professionals
Strip the title page from a template, an advert from a downloaded article or a duplicated page from a report, so the final file is clean.
Common mistakes
Miscounting pages
Check the reader's counter, not the printed numbers.
Assuming it hides information
Removing pages does not hide anything on the pages that stay. Check the result.
Removing a page from a signed document
That breaks the signature. Keep signed files whole.
Related tools
If you want several files rather than one, split the PDF into ranges. To join the shortened file with others, merge PDF files. For page numbers on the final document, add them, and to secure it, add a password.
When to remove pages from PDF files, and when not to
Removing is right when the list of pages to drop is shorter than the list of pages to keep. When it is the other way round, extracting is quicker. It is the wrong tool when the unwanted content is on a page you need to keep, in which case you need a redaction tool, or when the document is signed and must remain intact, in which case you should send it whole.
For the common cases, such as blank scan pages, cover sheets, adverts and duplicates, it is quick, private and exact to remove pages from PDF documents in the browser. The original is never changed, so you can come back and remove pages from PDF with a different list whenever you like.
Checking the result
After you remove pages from PDF files, always scroll through the result. Confirm the page count, check that the dropped pages are really gone and that no neighbouring page went with them. Open one of the remaining pages that held something important and check it looks right. It takes under a minute and catches the miscounted number before it reaches anyone else.
What if you removed the wrong page?
Nothing is lost. Your original file is untouched, so open it again and remove pages from PDF with the corrected list. This is the main reason to keep the original: the removal is not an edit of that file, it is the creation of a new one.
Large files and slow devices
Everything runs on your own device, so very large PDFs depend on its memory. A hundred pages is no trouble. A thousand-page scan may be slow on an older phone. If a huge file struggles, remove pages from PDF in two stages: first drop the largest unwanted block, then deal with the remainder in a second pass.
Making the result smaller
Dropping pages already makes the file smaller. If it is still too big for an upload form, compress the PDF afterwards. Scanned pages are the usual cause of heavy files, and a short pass of compression usually brings them to a sensible size.
Your file stays on your device
The removal happens locally. Your PDF is read by your own browser, the pages you keep are copied into a new file there and handed back. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy on a server and no one else who could see the contents.
A worked example
Say you have a scanned application of twelve pages, double-sided, and the scanner has produced a blank page after pages 2, 5 and 8. In the file these are pages 3, 6 and 9. You drop the PDF here and type 3, 6, 9. You press the button and download a nine-page PDF. You scroll through: no blank pages, everything in order, every page as sharp as the original. The file is shorter and ready to send.
One last tip
If you often tidy documents the same way, keep a note of the pages you tend to drop, such as "always the last page, always the cover". It turns the task into a thirty-second routine.
Before you close the page
Check that you downloaded the new PDF, that the unwanted pages are gone, and that you kept the original.
Summary
To remove pages from a PDF here, drop the file, name the pages to drop, such as 3, 5, 7-9, and download the result. Everything you did not name is kept exactly as it was. This removes whole pages; it does not black anything out on the pages that stay. Bookmarks and form fields are not carried over. Nothing leaves your device.