How to compress a PDF to 200 KB on your phone
By Toolverse Labs, makers of PDF Tools · · 2 min read
Quick answer
To compress a PDF to 200 KB on Android, open PDF Tools, tap Shrink, choose the PDF, pick Fit under a limit, type 200 and choose KB, then tap Compress. The app finds the best quality that still fits the limit.
“File size must not exceed 200 KB.” Job portals, university admissions, exam forms and government services in India all have upload limits like this, while one page scanned with a phone camera is often 1 to 3 MB. PDF Tools shrinks the file to the exact limit on your phone, without uploading your documents to a website.
Steps to reduce PDF size to 200 KB
- Open PDF Tools and tap Shrink under Quick tools, or go to Tools → Compress.
- Choose the PDF. You see its current size and number of pages.
- Under How small should it be? pick Fit under a limit.
- Type the limit, for example 200, and choose KB or MB.
- Tap Compress and give the new file a name.
- Check the result, for example “341 KB → 147 KB, 57% smaller”, and tap Share or Save a copy.
Other compression levels
- Balanced: good for sharing and reading on a screen.
- Smallest: the lowest image quality; small print may blur.
- Best quality: light compression, still fine for printing.
Compress to 100 KB, 500 KB or 1 MB
The same steps work for any limit: type 100 KB for strict portals, or 1 MB for e-mail. If a file has many pages, a very small limit may make the text hard to read; check the result before you upload it. Splitting the document into parts with Split is another way to stay under a per-file limit.
Compress a photo instead of a PDF
For a passport photo or a signature image, use Compress photo, which fits a JPG under a size limit in the same way. To turn several photos into one small PDF, first use Images to PDF, then compress it.
Good to know
- Compressing turns every page into an image, so the text can no longer be selected or searched, and form fields are removed. Your original file is not changed.
- Black and white often makes a scanned document smaller still.
- Compression runs on your phone, so ID cards and certificates are never uploaded.
Try it on your phone. PDF Tools is free, works offline and needs no account.
Frequently asked questions
How do I reduce PDF size to 200 KB without a computer?
Use PDF Tools on Android: Shrink, choose the PDF, Fit under a limit, type 200 KB and tap Compress.
Is compressing a PDF on my phone safe?
Yes. PDF Tools compresses the file on your phone and never uploads it, unlike most compression websites.
Why can I not select text after compressing?
To reach a small size every page becomes an image. Keep the original if you need the text.
Can I compress several PDFs at once?
Yes. Batch mode compresses up to 20 files in one go.
Everything PDF Tools can do
More than 40 tools in one free app, on phones and tablets, in 10 languages. Your files are processed on your phone and never uploaded to our servers.
- Edit: edit PDF text, find and replace, images, shapes, drawing, highlight, links, bookmarks, redact.
- Fill and sign: fill forms, saved details, make a form, sign, certificate signature, stamps and dates, flatten.
- Pages: organise, merge, split, rotate, crop, resize, pages per sheet, page numbers, watermark.
- Convert and scan: scan to PDF, images to PDF, ID card to PDF, OCR, QR scanner and maker, business card to contact, PDF to Word, Word to PDF, PDF to JPG, PDF to text, web page to PDF.
- Protect and shrink: compress PDF, compress photo, black and white, add or remove password, clean hidden data.
- Read, compare and find: reader with night mode, read aloud, translate, compare PDFs, find dates and amounts, print.
- Files and privacy: folders, favourites, recycle bin, app lock, search inside files, batch mode.
See every feature in detail or get PDF Tools on Google Play.
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