How to Reduce PDF File Size on Mac

High-resolution images and complex graphics can lead to large PDFs that are difficult to share, especially over email. Fortunately, you can reduce PDF file sizes to make things more manageable. If you’re on a Mac, you can use native or third-party tools to create smaller versions of PDF documents.

Reduce PDF File Size on Mac via the Preview App

The Preview app on your Mac is more than just a PDF viewer—it comes loaded with editing and file management features and even includes the ability to reduce PDF document sizes.

To reduce PDF file sizes on Mac with Preview:

1. Double-click the PDF file you want to reduce in size—it will open in Preview by default. You can also Control-click and select Open With > Preview.

2. Select File in the menu bar and choose Export.

3. Open the pull-down menu next to Quartz Filter and select Reduce File Size. Next, choose the destination where you want to save the compressed PDF and select Save.

Note: Although Preview does a decent job at reducing PDFs without adversely impacting image and text quality too much, that isn’t always the case. If a compressed document appears blurry, try the non-native methods further below.

Reduce PDF File Size on Mac via the ColorSync Utility

ColorSync Utility is another built-in tool on Macs that provides access to the same PDF file size reduction capabilities from Preview. It’s also the faster option if you want to reduce the size of an original document directly.

To reduce PDF file sizes on Mac with the ColorSync Utility:

1. Control-click the PDF document, point to Open With, and choose ColorSync Utility. If you don’t see the option, choose Other and select the tool from the Applications pop-up.
   

2. On the bottom of the PDF viewing area, set Filter to Reduce File Size and select Apply.

3. On the menu bar, select File > Save (or Save as if you want to create a separate copy of the file).

Reduce PDF File Size on Mac with Adobe Acrobat

If you have the Pro version of the Adobe Acrobat app on your Mac, you can use it to reduce PDF file sizes quickly. The Adobe website also gives you free access to a limited version of Acrobat’s PDF compression capabilities.

Compress PDFs via the Adobe Acrobat App

To compress PDFs with the Adobe Acrobat app for Mac:

1. Open a PDF in Adobe Acrobat, select the All Tools tab, and choose Compress a PDF.

2. Select Single file. If you choose Multiple files, you can add additional files and compress them simultaneously.

Note: Select Advanced Optimization if you’d like to adjust the compression settings—images, fonts, user data, etc.—that Adobe Acrobat uses to reduce PDF file sizes.

3. Set the destination where you want to save the compressed PDF and select Save.

Compress PDFs via Adobe Acrobat Online

To compress PDFs on Mac with Adobe’s online PDF services:

1. Visit Adobe Acrobat’s Compress a PDF page, choose Select a file, and upload a PDF document.

2. Pick a compression level—High creates the smallest PDFs at the expense of visual quality, Low does the opposite, and Medium balances the two. Then, select Compress.

3. Select Download to save the compressed file to your Mac.

Reduce PDF File Size via Web-Based PDF Tools

You can reduce PDF file sizes on your Mac through various third-party web-based PDF tools like Smallpdf, PDF2Go, and Sejda. Feel free to try them out if your documents don’t contain sensitive data.

As an example, here’s how to reduce PDF file sizes with Smallpdf:

1. Go to the Compress PDF page on the Smallpdf website, select Choose File, and upload a PDF from your Mac. You can also drag and drop the file into the upload area.

2. Set the compression method—Basic or Strong—and choose Continue.

3. Wait until Smallpdf compresses the PDF file and select Download.

Reduce PDF File Size on Mac with Lightweight PDF

If you plan on reducing PDF file sizes regularly on your Mac, you should get your hands on Lightweight PDF. It’s a free applet that compresses PDF files in seconds via a simple drag-and-drop interface.

You can install Lightweight PDF from the Mac’s App Store. Once you do that, drag the PDF you want to compress into the Lightweight PDF window—the tool should instantly compress the file. You can also select and drop multiple documents at the same time.

Warning: Lightweight PDF automatically overwrites original documents. If you don’t want that to happen, remember to create separate copies before dragging them in.

Choose Your Method

Your Mac makes it easy to reduce PDF file sizes natively with Preview and the ColorSync Utility. Opting for third-party tools like Adobe Acrobat, SmallPDF, and Lightweight PDF allows for even better results. If you’d like to avoid compromising on visual quality, you can always split PDFs into two or more parts instead.