Split PDF
Split a PDF into separate pages: each page becomes its own PDF file, delivered as a ZIP.
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How to use Split PDF
Key features of Split PDF
Each page is copied into a new single-page PDF with pdf-lib, so every file opens on its own without the rest of the document.
The page files are bundled with JSZip into split-pages.zip, so you download once instead of once per page.
The file is read and split by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
About Split PDF
Split PDF opens your file with pdf-lib, copies each page into a new document of its own, and writes the results into a ZIP with JSZip. The page content is copied, not re-rendered, so text, images and page size stay as they were. There is no page-range option: the tool always splits the whole document into single pages.
It works well for separating a batch of scanned invoices into one file each, pulling exhibits out of a court filing, or handing out single pages of a worksheet. If you want a few chosen pages together in one new PDF, Extract PDF Pages is the better fit. Bookmarks are not carried into the page files.
When to use Split PDF
A stack of signed permission slips was scanned as one 30-page PDF, and each slip has to be filed under a different child's name. Split it, unzip page-1.pdf to page-30.pdf, and rename each file as you file it.
A slide deck exported as one PDF, one slide per page, where different slides go to different people. After the split, each slide is its own file that you can attach on its own, without the recipient scrolling past the rest of the deck.
A run of pages that should stay together in one file, say a chapter on pages 12 to 20, is not a job for Split PDF, which would hand you nine separate files. Add the PDF once in Combine PDF and type 12-20 in its Pages box, or list the numbers in Extract PDF Pages.
To take a few pages out and keep the rest as one document, Delete Pages is the direct route: type the numbers to drop and download the remainder. Split PDF is for when every page needs to stand alone.
Tips and troubleshooting
- There is no button to click after the upload. Splitting starts as soon as the file has been read, and the progress bar reports Extracting page N as it works through the document.
- The result card has no Preview Document button, because the output is a ZIP rather than a PDF. Download it and open it with the archive tool built into your operating system.
- Each page file is a complete PDF that carries its own copy of the fonts and images its page uses, and the ZIP stores the files without compression. The ZIP can therefore be larger than the PDF you started with.
- A password-protected file, or one that opens without a password but restricts changes, stops with "This PDF is encrypted". Remove the protection with Unlock PDF first, then split the unlocked copy.
- The upload limit is 150 MB, but memory is the real constraint: every page file and the growing ZIP are held in the tab at the same time, so a long document on a low-memory device can be slow or fail part way through.
- Numbering follows position in the file, not the numbers printed on the pages. page-1.pdf is always the first page, even when the document's own numbering starts after a cover or uses roman numerals.
- Both Try Again on an error and Process Another File reload the page, so you return to the upload zone with nothing kept from the previous run.
- For what happens to a file on a server-based service, and how this site differs, see are online PDF tools safe?
- Need only some pages, or a range? Split or extract PDF pages: which tool to use compares Split PDF, Extract Pages, Delete Pages and Combine PDF.
How Split PDF works in your browser
The file is read into memory and opened once with pdf-lib. For each page index in turn, the script creates a brand-new empty document, copies that single page into it (together with the fonts, images and other objects the page references), and serialises it to bytes; those bytes are added to a JSZip archive under the name page-N.pdf. The loop runs on the page's main thread, one page after another, which is why the progress bar moves page by page.
When the last page has been written, JSZip assembles the archive as a Blob in memory, and that Blob is what Download File saves as split-pages.zip through a temporary object URL. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is written to disk until you click download. The original file is only read, never changed, and the page files exist only inside the ZIP in the tab's memory until you save it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I split only a range of pages?
Not with this tool. Split PDF always writes every page to its own file. To pull selected pages into one PDF, use Extract PDF Pages instead.
How are the split pages delivered?
As one ZIP file named split-pages.zip. Inside are files named page-1.pdf, page-2.pdf and so on, one for each page of the original.
Does splitting lower the quality of the pages?
No. Pages are copied into the new files without recompression, so text and images are unchanged.
Can I split a PDF every few pages or into two halves?
No. There is no setting for chunk size; every page becomes its own file. To make one file from a run of pages, add the PDF once in Combine PDF and type the range, such as 1-10, in its Pages box.
Why is the ZIP bigger than my PDF?
Each page file is a complete PDF with its own copy of the fonts and images that page uses, and the ZIP stores the files without compression. A document whose pages all share one large embedded font can add up to more than the original.
Does Split PDF work on a phone?
Yes. Tap Choose Files in a mobile browser and the ZIP is offered as a download when the split finishes. You need a files app or archive tool on the phone to open the ZIP and get at the page files.
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