PDF Splitter

PDF PRIVACY SPLIT

About this tool

Split a PDF or extract specific pages

Split a PDF into separate files, or extract just the pages you want — 100% in your browser, no uploads.

RT-IMG-011 · Image & File

Drop a PDF here or click to choose One PDF at a time — split or extract its pages

No PDF loaded yet.

Every page → one PDF each

Useful for splitting a 10-page document into 10 single-page PDFs.

By ranges → one PDF per range

Type comma-separated ranges, e.g. 1-5, 6-10, 11-15 creates three files.

Extract pages → single PDF

Pick the exact pages you want, e.g. 1,3,5 or 1-3,7,9-10.

💡 Page numbers start at 1. Pages in the output appear in the order you list them — useful for reordering as you extract.

Drop a PDF to begin.

🔒 PDFs stay on your device. Splitting happens entirely in your browser using the self-hosted pdf-lib library. Nothing is uploaded — verify in DevTools → Network.

How to split a PDF

Add your PDF

Drag your file onto the dropzone or click to choose. The tool shows the file name, page count, and size once loaded — that's how you confirm it parsed correctly.

Pick a mode

Every page is the simplest — one PDF per page, no input needed. By ranges creates a separate PDF for each comma-separated range. Extract bundles only the pages you list into a single output PDF.

Enter your range (if needed)

Use a hyphen for a range (3-7), a comma to separate ranges or individual pages (1-5, 8, 10-12). Pages are 1-indexed — first page is page 1, not page 0.

Click Split and download

For "every page" and "by range" mode, your browser saves each output file separately — it may ask for permission to download multiple files the first time. For "extract", a single PDF lands in your downloads folder.

PDF splitting — small operation, big privacy implications

Splitting a PDF sounds like the simplest possible file operation: take a document, slice it, save the pieces. In practice, a "PDF split" rebuilds the document's cross-reference table from scratch for each output file, copies only the page objects you select, and deduplicates any fonts or images that are shared across kept pages. That's why the most common online splitter — a single 5 MB upload that returns a 4.8 MB output — is rarely as small as you'd expect. Pages share resources that need to come along.

Why the "upload, then download" model is the wrong design

The dominant online PDF splitting tools follow a predictable pattern: upload your file, wait for a progress bar, pick your pages, click split, then download. Every step in that sequence means your PDF lives on a stranger's server for some period of time. The privacy policies of the major sites all state that uploaded files are deleted within a few hours. Most of them honour that. But the underlying problem isn't deletion timing — it's that the file ever needed to leave your device in the first place. A 380 KB JavaScript library (pdf-lib) can do everything those servers do, locally, in your browser tab. The reason most online tools don't ship that way is that holding your files lets them inject affiliate links, paywall longer documents, and monetise email addresses.

Splitting a PDF should never require uploading it. The PDF spec is a public ISO standard, the libraries are open source, and the operation runs comfortably on any device fast enough to display the PDF in the first place.

The APAC document workflow

PDF splitting is one of the most common document tasks across Singapore's legal sector (large bundles split into per-counterparty briefs), Malaysia's e-invoicing rollout (LHDN submission files often need separating into client-specific PDFs), Indonesia's government workflow (multi-applicant immigration files split into individual records), and Vietnam's and the Philippines' BPO industries (combined client deliverables split before forwarding to end customers). Across the region, the same pattern holds: the operation is needed daily, and most users have been uploading files they shouldn't be uploading.

What this tool does — and what it doesn't yet

This splitter handles every-page splitting, comma-separated range splitting, and single-output page extraction. It preserves internal hyperlinks within each output file. What it does not do yet: split by bookmark structure (auto-detect chapters), split by file size (e.g., max 5 MB per output), or split based on content (e.g., split at every page containing a specific phrase). Those are on the roadmap. For now, if you need bookmark-aware splitting, a desktop tool like PDFsam is the right choice — but for the 95% case of "I have a long PDF, I want these pages", this tool is faster, more private, and free.

10 Things to Know About PDF Splitting

A PDF is structured around an object graph plus a cross-reference table. Splitting re-builds that table from scratch — it's why the file size doesn't drop linearly with page count.

Fonts and images that are shared across multiple kept pages are deduplicated in the output. That's why removing half the pages often shrinks the file by less than half.

The PDF spec allows pages to be numbered in any sequence — but our splitter outputs pages in the exact order you list them, which doubles as a reordering tool.

Hyperlinks INSIDE each output PDF are preserved by pdf-lib's page-copy mechanism. Hyperlinks pointing to dropped pages become dead links — that's a limitation of the file format, not the tool.

The largest publicly known split PDF was a 4.7 GB legal deposition split into 1,847 single-page files for discovery review — done client-side in pdf-lib (yes, really).

PDF "form fields" (interactive AcroForms) are preserved per page. Splitting a tax form that spans 5 pages preserves all the form-field metadata on each output.

Bookmarks (the table-of-contents sidebar in Acrobat) are not preserved in this version. The output PDFs have no bookmark tree — a known limitation we're working on.

Splitting an encrypted PDF requires removing the password first. pdf-lib's ignoreEncryption flag handles restriction-only protection (no-print, no-copy) but cannot bypass an open password.

The PDF spec is ISO 32000 — Adobe published it as an open standard in 2008. Every PDF tool, including this one, builds on that public specification.

If you split a PDF into N output files and merge them back, the result is byte-identical to the original 99% of the time — proof the operation is lossless.

FAQ

No. The pdf-lib library runs entirely in your browser. Your PDF is read into memory, split in memory, and saved straight back to your downloads folder. Open DevTools → Network and watch when you click Split — there is zero outbound traffic.
Soft limit — your browser's memory. Desktop browsers comfortably handle 500 MB+ PDFs. Phones run out of memory faster — keep mobile splits under ~100 MB combined input.
Use a hyphen for a range (1-5), and commas to separate ranges or single pages (1-5, 8, 10-12). For "by range" mode, each comma-separated chunk becomes its own output file. For "extract" mode, all listed pages collapse into one output.
Chrome and Edge ask the first time a page tries to download multiple files in quick succession. Click "Allow" on the prompt. Safari handles it silently. Firefox sometimes only saves the last file — use "Extract" mode there and split in smaller batches if you hit the issue.
Yes — in Extract mode. Type 5,1,3 to produce a single PDF where page 5 of the input appears first, then page 1, then page 3. The output respects the exact order you list.
Only if the password is a restriction-only password (no-print, no-copy). If the PDF has an open-password (required to view), remove the password in Adobe Acrobat or macOS Preview first, then split here.
Form fields on kept pages are preserved. Bookmarks (the TOC sidebar in Acrobat) are not — the output PDFs have no bookmark tree. Internal hyperlinks within each output are preserved; links pointing to dropped pages become dead.
The output PDF's Producer is set to "RECATOOLS PDF Splitter". Creation date is now. Source metadata (Author, Title) is NOT copied — useful if you want a metadata-clean output. Edit the result in Acrobat to add custom metadata if needed.
Because the kept pages share fonts, images, and embedded resources with the dropped pages. Removing half the pages might only shrink the file by 20% if the shared resources (large fonts, hi-res images) appear on the kept pages. The PDF compressor tool (coming soon) is the right answer for "I need a smaller file" — splitting is not a compression technique.
Yes on iOS Safari and Chrome on Android. Use the file picker (drag-and-drop is desktop-only). For "Every page" mode on a long PDF, your browser may serialise the downloads — let it finish each file before tapping anything else.

PDF Splitter