Load a PDF and say which pages you want. You can pull out a single page, take several ranges at once, break the document every few pages, or turn every page into its own file. The original is left exactly as it was.
The three modes exist because “split” means different things to different people. Extracting pages 4 to 9 of a contract is a different job from chopping a 200-page scan into twenty-page chunks small enough to email, and both are different from separating a batch of invoices that were scanned in one pass.
Splitting copies page objects across unchanged. Nothing is re-rendered and nothing is re-compressed, so the pages you get out are identical to the pages that went in.
How to split PDF
- Add your PDF. Drop it on the box above or click to browse. One file at a time, up to 100 MB.
- Choose how to split it. By page range for specific pages, every N pages for even chunks, or each page separately to explode the whole document.
- Enter the pages. Ranges look like 1-3, 7, 12-20. Leave the end off a range — 12- — to mean "from page 12 to the end".
- Split and download. Each piece is named after the original with its page numbers appended, so a folder full of them still makes sense a month later.
What happens to bookmarks
A bookmark points at a specific page object. Extract pages 10 to 20 and every bookmark that pointed at page 3 is now pointing at nothing — which is why most split tools drop the outline entirely and hand you a file with an empty sidebar.
This one keeps the bookmarks whose target page is inside the piece you extracted, renumbered to their new positions. Bookmarks pointing outside the range are dropped, because a bookmark that jumps to the wrong page is worse than one that is not there. If a chapter heading falls outside the range but one of its sub-sections does not, the sub-section is promoted up a level rather than lost.
Choosing the right mode
By page range is the one most people want. Type the pages you need and get one file per range. Three ranges produce three files; if you want them combined instead, split first and then use Merge PDF.
Every N pages suits mechanical jobs — a long scan that needs to go out as a series of attachments, or a print job that has to be batched. It is the only mode where you do not need to know what is on the pages.
Each page separately is for separating documents that were scanned together. Be careful with long files: a 400-page PDF produces 400 downloads, which most browsers will start blocking partway through.
Things worth knowing before you split
Form fields do not survive being separated. A form is defined once at the document level and referenced by the pages that display it. Split the document and each piece keeps the page but loses the definition, so the fields go blank or disappear. Flatten the form first if you only need the filled-in appearance.
Page numbers printed on the page do not change. Extract pages 40 to 50 and the first page still says “40” because that number is ink, not metadata. Add Page Numbers will renumber the extracted file if you need it to.
Links between pages break if their target is left behind. Internal cross-references pointing at pages outside the range become dead. Links to external websites are unaffected.
An encrypted PDF has to be unlocked first. Pages cannot be read out of an encrypted document until it is decrypted, so run it through Unlock PDF with the password you already have.
Questions people actually ask
How do I extract just one page from a PDF?
Choose “By page range” and type the single page number — just 7, with no dash. You get a one-page PDF containing exactly that page, at the same quality as the original. If you want several individual pages as separate files, list them comma-separated: 3, 7, 11 gives you three files.
Can I split a PDF without losing quality?
Yes, and that is what happens here. Splitting copies the page objects across untouched — the same fonts, the same images, at the same resolution. Nothing is re-rendered or re-compressed, so there is no generational loss no matter how many times you split and re-split a document.
What does a range like "12-" mean?
From page 12 to the end of the document. Leaving the number off the end of a range saves you having to know how many pages the file has, which is useful when you are splitting several documents of different lengths the same way.
Why did my form fields disappear after splitting?
PDF forms are defined once for the whole document and referenced by the pages that show them. When a document is split, each piece keeps its pages but loses that shared definition, so the fields have nothing to point at. Flatten the form before splitting if you only need the values as they appear.
Is there a limit on how many files I can create?
Two hundred pieces in one go. Beyond that the browser starts struggling to hand you the downloads, and most browsers block a page that tries to save more than a few dozen files at once anyway. For very long documents, split in two passes.
Can I split a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. An encrypted PDF cannot have its pages read until it is decrypted, and browsers will not do that silently. Run it through Unlock PDF first using the password you already have, then split the result.