Many government, exam and scholarship portals accept each document only up to 100 KB: a mark sheet, a caste or income certificate, a proof of address. This page opens Compress PDF with Target size and 100 KB already set, so a scanned certificate can be brought under the limit in one step.
The documents people shrink to 100 KB are usually the most personal ones they have. Here they are compressed by your own browser and never uploaded, so no copy of your certificate is left on someone else's server.
How to compress a PDF to 100 KB
- Choose your PDF, or drop it onto the page. You can add several; each is compressed to 100 KB on its own.
- Check that Compression is set to Target size and Largest file size (KB) says 100.
- Leave "If needed, turn pages into images to reach the size" ticked, unless the text must stay selectable.
- Select "Compress" and wait while it tries a few settings.
- Read the note, which shows the size before and after and how it was reached, then download the file.
What to expect at 100 KB
For a one-page scan, 100 KB is usually enough for text that is comfortable to read on screen. The tool first tidies the file without any loss, then re-saves the scanned images at the highest quality and resolution that fits. Only if that isn't enough does it turn whole pages into images, at 150 dpi at best and lower when it must.
Pages turned into images lose their selectable text, and the note tells you when that happened. OCR can make the file searchable again, though it adds a little to the size.
Tips when 100 KB is hard to reach
- Scan at 150 or 200 dpi rather than 600. A higher resolution adds kilobytes, not readability.
- Scan in black and white or greyscale when colour isn't needed. Clean white paper compresses far better than a grey, shadowed photo of a page.
- Keep to one document per file. A long scan rarely fits in 100 KB, so split it with Split PDF or remove blank pages with Delete pages.
- Starting from phone photos? Make the PDF with Scan to PDF, which crops away the desk and whitens the paper first.
Frequently asked questions
Will the file be exactly 100 KB?
It will be at or under 100 KB, with the best quality that fits. A KB is counted as 1000 bytes, so the file is under the limit whether your portal counts 1000 or 1024 bytes per KB.
What happens if it can't reach 100 KB?
You still get the smallest version it could make, with a note saying how small that is and why, for example that the text and fonts alone take up more than 100 KB. Splitting the file into parts usually solves it.
My PDF is already under 100 KB. Will it get worse?
No. A file that already fits is kept as it was or only tidied without loss, so the pages look exactly the same.
What if my portal asks for a different size?
Check your form's notification for the exact limit, then type it into Largest file size (KB), or open Compress PDF to 200 KB instead.