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Use case · 3 minutes

How to split one big PDF into separate documents

Turn a single scanned stack into clean, individually-named files — in your browser, nothing uploaded.

For: Anyone who scanned a pile of documents as one PDF, or needs to send just part of a file
Start with step 1 Browse all tools
STEP BY STEP

The workflow

1
Split by page range or fixed interval
Open Split and choose how to break the file up — by page range (1-4, 5-9, …) or every N pages. Each range becomes its own PDF. It runs locally, so the file never leaves your device.
Open Split PDF
2
Or pull out just the pages you need
If you only want a few specific pages — a single signed form buried in a 40-page scan — use Extract Pages to lift them into a fresh PDF instead of splitting everything.
Open Extract Pages
3
Shrink the pieces before sending (optional)
Scanned pages are heavy. Run each split file through Compress to get it under a mailbox or upload-portal size limit without visible quality loss.
Open Compress PDF
WHY IT MATTERS

The case for doing this

Scanners and phone apps capture everything as one long PDF, but the way you actually use documents is one at a time — emailing a single bank statement rather than all twelve, uploading one form to a portal that wants one document per field, or filing scans by type. Splitting turns an undifferentiated stack into the discrete files your workflow expects. Because Split and Extract Pages copy the original pages without re-encoding, the output is identical to the source — no quality loss, no compression artefacts on text or signatures. And because the work happens entirely in your browser, sensitive scans like IDs, statements, and contracts never leave your device. The result: the right pages, in the right files, named the way you need, in a couple of minutes.

COMMON MISTAKES

What to avoid

Splitting before you know the page boundaries
Skim the PDF and note where each document starts. Splitting 'every 2 pages' only works if every document is exactly 2 pages — mixed-length documents need explicit ranges.
Losing track of which file is which
Split tools name outputs file-1, file-2, and so on. Rename them right away (or plan the order first) so 'pages 5-8' doesn't become an anonymous file-2.pdf you can't identify later.
TIPS FOR THE BEST RESULTS

What works

Use page ranges for mixed-length documents
Fixed intervals are fastest for uniform files; explicit ranges give you control when each document is a different length.
Extract beats split for one-off pulls
If you only need one section, Extract Pages is cleaner than splitting the whole file and deleting the rest.
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FAQ

Questions about this workflow

No. Splitting copies the original pages byte-for-byte into new files — there's no re-encoding, so the pages are identical to the source.

Try the workflow on a real PDF

Free tools run in your browser. No signup, no watermarks.

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