Split PDF

How to split a PDF

Open the document, type the pages you want, and download the pieces. Each range you type becomes one file, so 1-3, 8, 12-20 gives you three documents rather than one document with twenty-four pages in it. Files are named after the original and the pages they hold — contract-12-20.pdf — so a handful of them stay tellable apart in a downloads folder.

The whole operation runs in your browser. Your document is never uploaded, so the tool works offline once the page has loaded and leaves no copy on any server.

Writing page ranges

Commas separate pieces, hyphens describe spans. A trailing hyphen means “to the end”, so 12- takes everything from page twelve onwards, and a single number on its own gives you that one page. Spaces make no difference, and the long dash that Word and Pages substitute for a hyphen is understood too.

Leave the field empty and each page becomes its own file, up to fifty in one run. A document longer than that is refused rather than quietly cut short — you will be told how many pages it has, so you can ask for 1-50 and then 51- instead of discovering later that the tail is missing.

A range written backwards such as 5-2, or a page beyond the end of the document, is rejected with an explanation of which of the two went wrong. Ranges may overlap if you want the same page in two places, and one range covering the whole document simply gives you a copy.

What people use it for

Pulling one signed page out of a long contract to send on its own. Separating the invoice pages from a bank statement before handing it to an accountant. Taking a single chapter out of a manual. Removing pages you did not intend to share — though if the aim is to hide information rather than remove whole pages, blacking it out properly is a different job.

What is preserved

Pages are copied rather than re-rendered, so quality is untouched and page size and orientation carry over exactly. As with merging, bookmarks and outlines are not carried into the split files, and form fields keep their names.

Nothing is uploaded

Documents worth splitting are usually documents worth keeping private. Because the work happens on your device, no server holds a copy of your contract while it waits to be processed, and there is nothing to delete afterwards.

How do I write the page range?

Commas separate pieces and hyphens describe spans. "1-3, 8, 12-20" produces three files. A single number like "5" produces a one-page file, and "12-" means page 12 to the end.

Can I split a document into single pages?

Yes. Leave the page field empty and every page becomes its own file, up to 50 files in one go. For a longer document, ask for a range such as 1-50 and repeat.

Can I split a password-protected PDF?

Not directly. Unlock it first in the program you normally use to open it, then split the unlocked copy. The tool will tell you when a file needs unlocking.

Does splitting reduce quality?

No. Pages are copied as they are rather than re-rendered, so scans and text look exactly as they did in the original.