Split PDF without uploading
Split a PDF into individual pages or extract a range.
Drop a PDF here, or click to upload
Your file is processed entirely in your browser
This splits a PDF without uploading it. The document is parsed in your browser with pdf-lib, the pages you asked for are copied into new documents, and the result downloads directly — as a single PDF for a range, or a ZIP when you burst a document into many files. No page ever reaches a server, which is the point when the thing you are splitting is a contract, a payslip or a medical record. Ranges are inclusive and one-indexed, so entering 2 and 5 yields four pages, and the extracted pages keep their original fonts, text layer and image quality because they are copied rather than re-rendered. Bursting switches to a ZIP automatically because browsers refuse to fire dozens of simultaneous downloads; the archive is built in memory with JSZip. Encrypted PDFs cannot be read at all, and a document of several hundred pages will be slower to burst than to range-extract.
About the PDF Splitter
Split a PDF without uploading it anywhere. Burst a document into individual single-page files, or pull out an exact range like pages 2 to 5 — the parsing and extraction happen with pdf-lib inside your browser, so a contract or a payslip never leaves your device.
How to use the PDF Splitter
- 01Drag and drop your PDF, or click to choose it from your device.
- 02Choose “Split into individual pages” or enter a page range to extract.
- 03Click “Split PDF” to process the file in your browser.
- 04Download the resulting PDF, or a ZIP archive when there are multiple files.
Why use our PDF Splitter
- 01
Two split modes
Burst every page into its own file, or pull out an exact page range.
- 02
ZIP bundling
When you split into many files, they're packaged into one tidy ZIP download.
- 03
Fully client-side
Powered by pdf-lib — your document never leaves your browser.
- 04
No watermarks
Free forever, no sign-up, and no SwiftTooly branding added to your output.
Should you split into single pages or extract a range?
Extracting a range is the right choice when you want a contiguous run of pages as one document — pulling pages 12 to 18 out of a long report to send to a colleague, or separating a signed appendix from the agreement it belongs to. The output is a single PDF containing exactly those pages in order. Bursting into individual pages is the right choice when each page is a separate artefact: a batch of scanned invoices, a set of certificates, a stack of receipts photographed into one file. Because browsers cannot reliably trigger dozens of simultaneous downloads, the individual files are bundled into a ZIP archive with JSZip, also entirely in the browser. The archive is assembled in memory and handed to you as one download, so a hundred-page burst arrives as one file you can unpack wherever you like.
What splitting preserves and what it does not
Pages are copied at the object level, so the visual content is untouched: fonts stay embedded, images keep their original resolution and compression, vector artwork stays vector, and text remains selectable and searchable in the output. What does not survive is anything that belongs to the document as a whole rather than to a page. Bookmarks and the outline tree are document-level structures and are not reconstructed for the fragments. Internal links that point to a page not included in your extract become dead, since their target no longer exists. Document-level JavaScript, attachments and some metadata are likewise not carried into the split files. For the overwhelming majority of splitting jobs — separating scanned documents, pulling out a chapter, extracting a signature page — none of this matters. For a heavily interlinked technical manual, it is worth checking the output.
Working with large documents and scans
Splitting is comparatively light work because no page content is re-processed, so even a several-hundred-page document usually splits quickly. The memory cost is dominated by holding the source document and the outputs at once, which means bursting a very large scanned file into hundreds of individual PDFs is the heaviest thing you can ask of it. If a tab becomes unresponsive on a big scan, extract in two or three ranges instead of bursting everything in one pass. Scanned PDFs behave slightly differently from digitally generated ones in a way worth knowing: a scan is usually one large image per page, so the split files inherit that size and a single page can still be several megabytes. If the fragments need to be emailed, running them through the PDF compressor afterwards will usually cut them substantially, because downscaling a scanned image is where compression gets its biggest wins.
Choosing a split mode
| You want | Mode | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Pages 3–9 as one document | Extract range | A single PDF |
| Every page as its own file | Split into individual pages | A ZIP archive |
| One page on its own | Extract range, same start and end | A single PDF |
| To remove a page | Extract the ranges either side | Two PDFs to merge |
To delete a page, extract the ranges before and after it, then combine them with the PDF merger.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. Splitting happens entirely in your browser with pdf-lib. Nothing is transmitted, and the tool keeps working if you disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded.
How do I extract a specific page range?
Choose Extract range and enter the first and last page numbers, for example 2 and 5. The output PDF contains exactly those pages in order.
Why do I get a ZIP file?
Browsers cannot reliably start dozens of downloads at once, so when you burst a document into many single-page PDFs they are bundled into one ZIP with JSZip — also locally, in your browser.
Can it split a password-protected PDF?
Encrypted PDFs cannot be parsed until they are decrypted. Remove the password in your PDF viewer first, then split the unlocked copy.
How do I delete a page rather than extract one?
Extract the range before the unwanted page and the range after it, then merge those two files with the PDF merger. The result is the original minus that page.
Do bookmarks survive the split?
No. Bookmarks are a document-level outline rather than page content, so they are not rebuilt for the fragments. Page content itself is preserved exactly.
Will the split pages lose quality?
No. Pages are copied rather than re-rendered, so images keep their original resolution and text stays selectable.
Why is a single split page still several megabytes?
Scanned documents store a full-page image per page, so each page carries that weight. Run the output through the PDF compressor to reduce it.
Is there a page limit?
No imposed limit. Very large bursts are bounded by your device's memory — if a tab struggles, split in ranges instead of bursting everything at once.
Last updated
Built on pdf-lib for page extraction and JSZip for archive bundling. Page-tree behaviour verified against ISO 32000-1 (PDF 1.7).