Compress PDF in Safari
Compress PDF directly in Safari with ContinuePDF — no extension and no separate app, on both Mac and iPhone/iPad. The tool is built to Safari's standards and respects its privacy-first design, processing your PDF on your device rather than in the cloud. It fits naturally into Apple's ecosystem, pulling files from Finder on a Mac or the Files app on iOS.
Start Compress PDF NowHow to Compress PDF in Safari
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Open the tool in Safari
Open Compress PDF in Safari on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. No extension, no download.
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Add your PDF
On a Mac, drag from Finder; on iPhone/iPad, choose from the Files app or iCloud Drive.
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Download your result
Run the tool and Safari saves compressed PDF to Downloads (Mac) or the Files app (iOS).
What you can do with Compress PDF
Compressing rewrites a PDF so it takes up less space — mainly by optimising embedded images and stripping redundant data — making the file easier to email, upload, or store.
Get under an email limit
Shrink a photo-heavy PDF so it fits within a 10 MB or 25 MB attachment cap.
Speed up a web upload
Reduce a large scan before submitting it to a government portal, job application, or loan form that rejects big files.
Save storage space
Compress archived documents so a folder of scans takes a fraction of the disk or cloud space.
Share faster
Send a lighter file that downloads quickly for recipients on slow or mobile connections.
Compress PDF in Safari, the Apple way
Safari is engineered around privacy and efficiency, and a good PDF tool should match that. ContinuePDF does: it runs entirely within Safari using standard web technology, so your PDF stays on your Apple device and is never uploaded to a server — in keeping with the private-by-default philosophy Safari users expect.
It also behaves the way Safari users expect across devices. On a Mac you can drag your PDF in from Finder and the compressed PDF lands in Downloads; on iPhone or iPad you pull files from the Files app or iCloud Drive and save the result straight back. No extension, no app, and nothing that leaves the Apple ecosystem.
Why choose ContinuePDF
No extension
Runs as a normal page in Safari — nothing to add.
Mac & iOS
Works in Safari on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Privacy-first
Matches Safari's private-by-default approach — files stay on-device.
Finder & Files
Integrates with Finder on Mac and the Files app on iOS.
Pro tip
Most of a PDF's size usually comes from scanned pages and embedded photos, not text. If a file is still too big after compressing, check whether it is a scan — reducing image resolution has the biggest effect, while a text-only PDF is already small.
Frequently asked questions
Will compressing make my PDF look worse?
At a moderate level, text and vector graphics stay sharp and the savings come from optimising images, so documents still look clean. The strongest setting works harder — it can even convert pages to images to shrink the file further, which softens photos and makes text non-selectable — so choose a moderate level when you need to keep text crisp and selectable.
Why didn't my PDF get much smaller?
If the file is mostly selectable text, it is already efficient and there is little to remove. The biggest savings come from PDFs built around high-resolution images or scans.
Does Compress PDF work in Safari?
Yes, fully — on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Compress PDF runs as a standard web page in Safari with no extension needed. Add your PDF and download compressed PDF right from the browser.
Is it private in Safari?
Yes. In line with Safari's privacy-first design, ContinuePDF processes your PDF on your device and never uploads it, so your documents stay within your control.
Is ContinuePDF free to use?
Yes. ContinuePDF and all of its tools, including Compress PDF, are free with no signup required. Because documents are processed in your browser rather than on our servers, we can offer the full feature set at no cost.
Other ways to Compress PDF
Prefer a different device, browser, or setup? Compress PDF works the same everywhere.
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