Split a PDF into separate files

How it works

Tap or click the box, choose the file, then pick one of three ways to cut it. "One file per page" is the blunt option: a twelve-page document becomes twelve PDFs, each named after the page it holds. "The ranges I type" takes a comma-separated list: type 1-3,5,8-10 and three files come back, holding pages one to three, page five on its own, and pages eight to ten. A single page needs only its number. "Equal chunks" takes one number instead: type 2 and every file gets two pages, with any odd page left over ending up alone in the final file. The label above the box changes with the mode, so you never have to remember which kind of value belongs there. If the numbers do not exist in the document, nothing is produced by halves: you are told how many pages there are and which page you asked for, and no file is created. Each part appears on its own row with a note saying which pages it holds, and you download them one by one. Page content is untouched — text stays selectable, images are not recompressed, and rotated pages keep their angle. Nothing is uploaded; the whole job runs in the browser.

This tool is also known as split pdf, separate pdf pages, pdf splitter, split pdf into pages, extract pdf into separate files, cut pdf in half.

What is Page range?

A page range describes consecutive pages with two numbers and a hyphen: 8-10 means pages eight, nine and ten. Several ranges are separated by commas, and a lone page is written as a single number, so 1-3,5 means a block of three pages plus one page on its own. The notation is familiar from print dialogs, but here it carries an extra meaning: each range becomes a separate file. The numbers always count from the front of the document, so the cover is page one even when another number is printed on it.

What is Printed page number versus real page number?

Two different numbers describe the same page and they rarely agree. One is printed on the paper; the other is how many sheets in from the front the page sits. Covers, title pages and tables of contents are usually printed without numbers, so the page marked 1 is often the third or fourth page of the file. This tool uses the second kind, the position counted from the front. Opening the document and reading the position your viewer shows takes a few seconds and saves downloading the wrong part.

What is Names of the split files?

The parts are named after the source document with the pages they contain appended, so contract.pdf produces contract-1.pdf, contract-2.pdf, or contract-8-10.pdf when a range was used. Once the files land in the downloads folder that naming tells you what each one holds without opening any of them. Nothing is ever overwritten: if you split the same document twice, the browser adds its own counter to the second set.

What is the difference between splitting and extracting?

Both take pages out of a document, but the shape of the result differs. Splitting produces several files at once, and between them they account for the whole source document. Extracting produces a single new file holding only the pages you asked for; everything else is simply absent. The practical question is whether you want many documents or one shorter document. Archiving each chapter of a twenty-page report separately calls for splitting; sending just the signature page of that report calls for extracting. A single range can be taken either way with the same result, but collecting several separate ranges into one file is only possible with the extract tool.

Which mode fits the job

One file per page suits documents whose pages are archived individually or sent to different people. The drawback is volume: a hundred-page document produces a hundred downloads and buries the rest of your folder. For a file that long it is usually worth deciding first which pages you actually need.

Typing ranges works best when the document has natural sections. If the identity page is the first two pages and the income statement runs from three to five, typing 1-2,3-5 gives you two clean files. Overlapping ranges are allowed, so the same page can appear in two different parts if you want it there.

Equal chunks saves time on regular documents. A stack of two-page forms only needs the number 2 and the whole file is cut into pairs. If the page count is not a multiple, the remainder ends up in the last file — no page is ever dropped.

Before you split

Splitting never touches page content, so whatever is in the source is in the parts. If the document is a scan, meaning the pages are photographs, the parts are photographs too and no text can be searched in them. Making that text searchable is a separate job that this tool does not do.

Some features belong to the document as a whole and lose their meaning once it is cut up. Links in a table of contents, cross references to other pages and footnote numbering can end up pointing nowhere. If the file is a form, the fields travel but calculations that span pages may stop working — for those documents extracting is the safer operation.

• Count pages from the front of the file, not from the printed number
• In a range the smaller number comes first: 8-10, never 10-8
• Ask for a page that does not exist and no files are produced at all
• Expecting many parts? Empty the downloads folder before you start

Frequently asked questions

Why don't all the parts download at once?

Every part is a separate file and gets its own row in the result list, and you press download for each of them. Browsers deliberately restrict downloading many files from a single click, which is why they are handed over one at a time.

Where do I find the page number?

Open the document in your usual viewer and go to the page you want; the viewer shows the position in its toolbar. That position is the number this tool uses. The number printed on the paper is often two or three pages out in documents with covers.

How many files does 1-3,5 produce?

Two. The first holds pages one, two and three; the second holds page five alone. Page four appears nowhere, because it was not listed. If you want every listed page collected into a single file, use the extract tool instead.

Why are the parts together bigger than the source?

Each part is a complete PDF that opens on its own, so shared material — the fonts above all — is written into every file. Split ten pages into ten files and that overhead is repeated ten times. The difference is usually small but grows with the number of fonts.

Can I split a password-protected PDF?

No. The tool stops on documents that ask for a password and says so plainly; it does not try to remove the protection. Save an unprotected copy from a program that can open the file and split that instead. Damaged or half-downloaded files produce a clear warning too, never a silently empty PDF.