Drop a PDF into the upload box on the left. You'll see page thumbnails here after it loads.
Splitting means taking one PDF file and dividing it into smaller PDF files. Instead of a 200-page manual, you get separate chapter files. Instead of a scanned book, you get individual page images saved as PDFs.
This is one of the most common PDF tasks in the world. Students split a lecture handout into separate topic files. Offices split a large contract into individual sections for different departments. Freelancers split a portfolio into single-project PDFs to send to different clients.
This tool does that job right in your browser. Your file never leaves your computer. There's no upload step, no queue, no waiting for a server to finish processing.
Each page becomes its own PDF file. A 20-page PDF becomes 20 files, all bundled into a single ZIP for download. Best for turning a scanned book into individual page images, or a form pack into separate fillable forms.
You define groups of pages, and each group becomes one PDF file. For example, typing 1-3, 4-6, 7-10 produces three files: one with pages 1–3, one with 4–6, one with 7–10.
This is the mode most people want. It's how you split a book into chapters, a report into sections, or a folder of documents into smaller deliverables. You can use any combination — single pages, ranges, or both: 1, 5-8, 12, 15-20.
You click page thumbnails to select them, then click Split. The tool creates one new PDF containing only those pages, in the order you clicked them. Best for pulling a few key pages out of a large document — a signed page from a contract, a diagram from a manual, or a résumé from an application pack.
1-3, 4-6Most free PDF splitters upload your file to their servers. You wait while a machine you can't see processes your document. You hope nothing goes wrong. For a public brochure, that's fine. For a signed contract or a medical record, it's a real risk.
This tool works differently. Everything runs inside your browser. The PDF is opened directly from your device's storage, split in memory, and written back out. No upload, no server, nothing to leak.
Encrypted PDFs can't be split. You'll need to remove the password first. Our Remove Password tool can do this — but you must know the password. There's no legitimate way to bypass encryption without it.
Your browser may have blocked the download. Check the address bar for a "downloads blocked" icon and allow it. If you're on a corporate network, some download types are blocked — try a personal device.
The pages themselves are byte-for-byte identical. What might look different is the page numbering: if the original page 5 said "Page 5 of 200" and you split it off alone, the text still says "Page 5 of 200" — but it's now the only page in the file. That's expected.
Rendering 100+ thumbnails takes time. The progress bar shows exactly what's happening. If it stalls, your browser may be running low on memory — try refreshing and splitting a smaller page range.
Use plain numbers and hyphens: 1-3, 5, 7-10. Don't use "pages" or "and" — just digits, commas, and hyphens. Ranges must be in ascending order (1-3, not 3-1). Duplicates are ignored.
| Task | Tool | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Break 1 PDF into 10 files | Split PDF | Divides one PDF into multiple smaller PDFs |
| Combine 5 PDFs into 1 | Merge PDF | Joins pages from multiple PDFs into one new PDF |
| Pull pages 3–5 out of 50 | Split PDF (Extract mode) | Creates a new PDF with only the pages you select |
| Shrink a 30 MB PDF to 5 MB | Compress PDF | Re-renders pages at lower quality to reduce file size |
| Rotate scanned pages | Organize PDF | Rotate, reorder, or delete pages within one PDF |
Yes. Here's exactly what happens when you use this tool:
At no point does the file leave your device. No data is sent to SkillsInsider's servers. No tracking cookies watch your split. You can prove it yourself: turn off your Wi-Fi after the page loads, then split a PDF. It still works perfectly.
Yes — completely free. No sign-up, no watermark, no page limit. Use it as often as you need.
No. Everything runs locally in your browser using pdf-lib and PDF.js. Your file never leaves your device.
Three ways: split every page into separate PDFs, split at custom ranges (e.g. 1-3, 4-6), or extract hand-picked pages into one new PDF.
No. pdf-lib copies pages byte-for-byte. Images, text, and fonts are preserved exactly as they were in the original.
No. Encrypted PDFs need to be unlocked first. Use our Remove Password tool, then come back and split. You must know the password — there's no way to bypass encryption without it.
It depends on the mode. Split every page gives you many files (bundled in a ZIP). Split by range gives you one file per range. Extract pages gives you one file with the pages you selected.
Once the page has fully loaded, yes. Turn off Wi-Fi and it still splits — all processing happens locally on your device.
Split takes one PDF and divides it into many files. Merge takes many PDFs and combines them into one. They do the opposite thing.