Split PDF
Extract every page or custom page ranges from a PDF into separate files.
Written by Anil Gautam · Updated
How do page ranges work in Split PDF?
After you choose a PDF, the tool shows its page count. Leave the ranges box empty and every page becomes its own file. Otherwise each comma-separated part becomes one PDF: a single number gives a one-page file and a range such as 8-10 gives one file with those pages. The files are named split-01.pdf, split-02.pdf and so on, in the order you typed the parts, and they download together in a ZIP named after your PDF with -split added.
Take a 12-page PDF and type 1-3, 5, 8-10. The ZIP holds three files: split-01.pdf with pages 1 to 3, split-02.pdf with page 5 and split-03.pdf with pages 8 to 10. Pages 4, 6, 7, 11 and 12 are left out. With the box empty, the same PDF gives twelve one-page files, split-01.pdf to split-12.pdf.
What happens with reversed or out-of-range page numbers?
Some mistakes are corrected without a warning. A reversed range such as 10-8 is read as 8-10, and pages inside one output always stay in ascending order. Numbers past the last page are pulled back to it, so on a 10-page file 8-15 gives pages 8 to 10 and a lone 12 gives page 10. A range with a missing end does not run to the end of the file: 5- gives pages 1 to 5, so type both ends, such as 5-10. Parts that are not numbers are skipped, and repeating a part, as in 2, 2, gives two copies of that page.
When does splitting need another tool?
Splitting runs in your browser with pdf-lib, and every page keeps its original size. Each output holds only the pages you chose, plus a copy of the fonts and images those pages use, so the pieces together can add up to more than the original file. Password-protected files are read without being decrypted, so their pages come out blank or unreadable; remove the password first. If the drop area is still showing after you pick a file, the file could not be read as a PDF.
Outputs are numbered in the order you type the parts, so you can cut a file into pieces in a new order and join them again with Merge PDF. Typing 5, 1-4, 6 for a 6-page file, for example, gives three pieces that put page 5 at the front once merged. Use PDF to JPG when a form wants pages as images, and Compress PDF when a split file is still too large to upload.