Split PDF

Split a PDF by page ranges, every few pages or by file size, or extract the pages you pick, without uploading it.

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Split

Every few pagesBy page rangesBy file sizeExtract picked pages

Pages in each PDF

Divides one PDF into several: a scanned bundle into its separate documents, a long report into chapters, or a file too large for a portal or an email into parts that fit. It can also take out just the pages you need as one PDF. Pages are copied as they are, so text stays sharp and selectable, and form fields and links come with them. The PDF is split on your device and never uploaded.

How to use it

Add a PDF by dropping it on the tool or with Choose a PDF; one that needs a password asks for it, and the PDFs made from it have no password. Its pages show as thumbnails, numbered. Then choose how to split:

Every few pages: a PDF for every so many pages, set in Pages in each PDF. It starts at 1, which saves each page as its own PDF. The last PDF takes whatever pages are left.
By page ranges: type the ranges, separated by commas, as in 1-3, 5, 8-; each becomes a PDF. 8- runs to the last page and -3 from the first; last, odd and even also work. Ranges may overlap, and pages no range names are left out.
By file size: the largest each PDF may be, in KB or MB, starting at 5 MB. Pages are grouped in order so that each PDF stays within it.
Extract picked pages: click or tap the pages you want (Shift+click picks a run) and they are saved as one PDF, in page order.

The tool says how many PDFs the split will make before you run it. Each is named after the original and the pages it holds, as in report-pages-03-05.pdf, and can be downloaded alone or all together as a ZIP.

Examples

A 10-page PDF, 4 pages in each

Split: Every few pages
Pages in each PDF: 4
PDFs made: notes-pages-01-04.pdf (pages 1-4) notes-pages-05-08.pdf (pages 5-8) notes-pages-09-10.pdf (pages 9-10)

The last PDF holds the 2 pages left over.

Ranges from a 12-page PDF

Split: By page ranges
Page ranges: 1-3, 5, 8-
PDFs made: report-pages-01-03.pdf (pages 1-3) report-page-05.pdf (page 5) report-pages-08-12.pdf (pages 8-12)

Pages 4, 6 and 7 are in no range, so they are in none of the PDFs.

A 12-page scan of about 450 KB a page, in parts of 2 MB

Split: By file size
Largest size of each PDF: 2 MB
PDFs made: scan-pages-01-04.pdf (pages 1-4) scan-pages-05-08.pdf (pages 5-8) scan-pages-09-12.pdf (pages 9-12)

4 pages fit in 2 MB and a 5th would not, so each PDF holds 4.

Frequently asked questions

The tool works out what each page weighs: its text and drawings, its images, and the fonts it uses. A font or logo shared by several pages is counted once in each PDF that needs it. Pages are then grouped in order up to the size, each PDF is written and measured, and one that still comes out over is divided again. The size counts 1 KB as 1,000 bytes and 1 MB as 1,000,000, so a PDF within it also passes a limit that counts 1,024.

A page cannot be divided, so it is saved as a PDF of its own and the result marks it as over the size. Such a page is nearly always a large scan or photo: Compress PDF can make it smaller, and is offered under the result.

Form fields stay with their pages, filled in and still fillable, and so do comments and highlights. A link to a website keeps working, and so does a link to a page that is in the same PDF after the split; a link to a page that went into another PDF no longer goes anywhere. Bookmarks are left out, since they would point at pages that are no longer there, and the result says so when the original had them. The document's title and author are not copied either.

A PDF that needs a password to open asks for it, and the PDFs split from it have no password. One that only restricts printing or copying opens without a password. A digitally signed PDF can be split, but the signature covers the whole original file, so none of the parts carries a valid signature; the tool says so when you add one.

No. Your browser reads, splits and saves the files on your device; they are not sent to CornerTools or anyone else, and neither is a password you type. To check, open the browser's developer tools at the Network tab and add a PDF: no request carries it. The PDF engine downloads from this site the first time you use it: a download to your browser, not an upload of your file.