Most email providers cap attachments at around 20 to 25 MB, and many job and government portals set limits far lower. If your PDF won't send, these are the fixes that actually work, from fastest to most involved.
1. Run it through a PDF compressor
The quickest fix is the free PDF compressor. Choose Low to leave images untouched and only clean up unused data, Medium for a balanced result, or High when you need the smallest possible file. Scans and photo-heavy documents usually shrink the most.
2. Remove pages you don't need
File size grows with page count. If you're sending a contract with ten pages of appendices the recipient doesn't need, send only the relevant pages. Fewer pages means a smaller file, with no loss of quality.
3. Re-export instead of re-scanning
If the PDF came from Word, Pages, or Google Docs, export it again using a "minimum size" or "web" option. If it came from a scanner, re-scan at 150 DPI in grayscale. Most documents stay perfectly readable at that resolution, and the file is a fraction of the size of a 600 DPI color scan.
4. Compress before you merge
If you plan to combine files with the PDF merger, compress the big ones first. Merging doesn't make files smaller, so a merged file is roughly the sum of its parts.
5. Send a link instead
When a file is still too big, upload it to cloud storage and share a link. Recipients can download it without hitting attachment limits.
Which option should you use?
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Scanned document or photos | High compression, or re-scan at 150 DPI |
| Text-only PDF that is still large | Remove pages, or re-export from the source app |
| Several files for one email | Compress each, then merge |
| Still over the limit | Share a download link |
Will compression hurt quality?
On Low, no: nothing visible changes. On Medium and High, images are reduced in resolution and quality, so fine detail in photos can soften. Text stays sharp. If a result looks too rough, run the original again on a lower level.