How do I extract only some pages from a PDF?

Type the pages in the Custom ranges box, for example 2-4 for pages 2, 3 and 4, or 2-4, 9 for two files. Each entry you list becomes its own PDF inside the ZIP. Leave the box empty to get every page as a separate file.

Why do I get a ZIP even for one range?

Split PDF always returns a ZIP, even when you ask for a single range. Unzip it (double-click on most computers and phones) to get the PDF inside.

Do page numbers follow the numbers printed on the pages?

No. They count the physical pages in the file, starting at 1 for the first sheet. If your report has a cover and a contents page, its printed page 1 may be page 3 here.

Is the quality or the text affected?

No. Pages are copied from the original into the new files, not converted to images, so text stays selectable and searchable. Bookmarks and document properties such as title and author are not carried into the split files.

Can I split a password-protected PDF?

Not if the PDF asks for a password when you open it. Remove the password in a program where you know it, then split the unlocked copy.

No. It is uploaded over HTTPS, split for your request and discarded. There is no account and no copy kept. Files up to 500 MB are accepted, but very large files take longer to upload.

Split PDF — Extract Pages or Split Into Separate Files

Part of PDF tools: See all PDF tools.

What is Split PDF?

Split PDF breaks one PDF into smaller PDFs. Leave the range box empty and every page becomes its own file. Type ranges such as 1-5, 8, 11-13 and each entry becomes one file: pages 1 to 5 together, page 8 alone, pages 11 to 13 together. The result always downloads as a ZIP. Pages are copied from your file as they are, not re-rendered, so text stays selectable and images keep their quality. The PDF is uploaded over HTTPS, split for that request and then discarded. No signup, no watermark.

How to use Split PDF

Open Split PDF and upload one PDF. It needs at least two pages.
Leave Custom ranges empty for one file per page, or type ranges separated by commas, for example 1-5, 8, 11-13. Page numbers count from the first sheet of the file, cover included.
Click Split & Download ZIP. The result card shows how many pages the source had and how many files were made.
Unzip the download and open the part you need. Files are named after your PDF, for example report_page_3.pdf or report_part_1.pdf.

Why use this tool?

Portals, clients and courts often want one form, one chapter or one statement, not the whole file. Splitting first keeps the upload small and sends only the pages that matter. Because pages are copied rather than printed to images, the split files look exactly like the original pages. If a range is wrong (backwards, or past the last page), the tool tells you instead of returning an empty ZIP.

Split by purpose: Extract only the pages you need for sharing, storage, or review. This is especially useful for splitting scanned documents into smaller, easier-to-manage files.

The everyday problem: a PDF that is too big to be one thing

Most PDFs that need splitting were never meant to be a single document — they just happen to live in one file. A scanner dumps thirty pages into one PDF when really it captured six separate receipts. A bank sends twelve months of statements as one download when you need January on its own. A book chapter, a single form out of a packet, the one page of a contract your client actually has to sign — over and over, the useful unit is smaller than the file you were handed. Splitting is the operation that gets you from "the whole stack" to "exactly the page or range I need", and it is one of the most common PDF tasks precisely because PDFs accumulate pages so easily.

Three different things people mean by "split"

"Split this PDF" can mean three quite different operations, and knowing which you want saves time. Extracting a range — pull pages 5 to 9 into their own file and leave the rest behind — is what you want when you need one section of a larger document. Splitting into individual pages — turn a 20-page PDF into 20 one-page PDFs — is what you want when every page is a separate item, like a batch of scanned invoices. Splitting at intervals — break a 100-page file into chunks of 10 — is what you want when a system imposes a page limit per upload. This tool has no automatic every-N-pages mode, but you can type the chunks as ranges (1-10, 11-20, 21-30 and so on) and each range becomes its own file; the trick is being clear in your own mind about whether you want one slice, every page separately, or even-sized chunks.

How splitting preserves your document

A well-built split is lossless. It does not re-render or re-compress your pages; it copies the existing page objects — text, vector graphics, embedded fonts, and images — verbatim into the new file. That means a page extracted from a crisp original is exactly as crisp in the output, with no generational quality loss, and the text stays real selectable text rather than becoming a flattened picture. This is worth understanding because it is the opposite of how some "split" tools work by printing pages back to images; those lose searchability and sharpness. Copying page objects keeps everything that made the original useful, which is why splitting and then re-merging the same pages should round-trip back to essentially the document you started with.

One subtlety: metadata and document-level features. The split files carry the fonts and images each page needs, but not the document's title and author fields, and not its bookmarks; other document-wide structures, such as form-field calculations that span pages, may not survive intact when you carve out a fragment — there is simply no sensible way to keep a bookmark that pointed to a page you left behind. For ordinary documents this is invisible; for complex interactive PDFs, check that anything page-spanning still works in the piece you kept.

Getting page ranges right

Page numbering is where splits most often go wrong, and the cause is almost always the gap between the printed page number and the physical page position. A report whose first page of body text is labelled "1" may actually be the third sheet in the file because of a cover and a contents page. The tool counts physical pages from the start of the file, so "extract page 1" means the very first sheet, cover and all — not the page printed with a "1". Before splitting a long document, scroll to confirm the physical position of what you want. When specifying a range, remember it is inclusive on both ends: pages 5 to 9 gives you five pages (5, 6, 7, 8, 9), a fence-post detail that trips people into grabbing one page too few or too many.

Where split fits with the other PDF tools

Splitting is rarely the whole job; it is usually one move in a small workflow. A frequent pattern is split, then recombine: pull the pages you want out of two different documents and merge them into a new one in the right order — exactly how you assemble a signature page from one file with the body of another. Another is split, then shrink: extract the section you need and run it through PDF compress, since a five-page extract emails far more easily than the eighty-page original it came from. And if a page you have extracted needs editing — a date filled in, a signature added — hand it to the PDF editor once it is on its own. Thinking of split as the "isolate the part I care about" step, with merge, compress, and edit as the follow-ups, makes the whole PDF toolkit click together.

Privacy and the practical close

Because splitting frequently involves sensitive documents — statements, contracts, medical forms — what happens to your upload matters. Your file is processed for the duration of the request and then discarded; it is not stored, indexed, or retained after you download the result. The pieces you create do not carry the original's title and author fields, but anything printed on the pages themselves (headers, footers, stamps, a client name in the margin) goes with them, so check the page before you send it onward. For the common cases, though — one statement out of twelve, one form out of a packet, even-sized chunks to beat an upload limit — splitting is the fast, lossless way to get exactly the pages you need and nothing you do not.

Frequently asked questions

How do I extract only some pages from a PDF?: Type the pages in the Custom ranges box, for example 2-4 for pages 2, 3 and 4, or 2-4, 9 for two files. Each entry you list becomes its own PDF inside the ZIP. Leave the box empty to get every page as a separate file.
Why do I get a ZIP even for one range?: Split PDF always returns a ZIP, even when you ask for a single range. Unzip it (double-click on most computers and phones) to get the PDF inside.
Do page numbers follow the numbers printed on the pages?: No. They count the physical pages in the file, starting at 1 for the first sheet. If your report has a cover and a contents page, its printed page 1 may be page 3 here.
Is the quality or the text affected?: No. Pages are copied from the original into the new files, not converted to images, so text stays selectable and searchable. Bookmarks and document properties such as title and author are not carried into the split files.
Can I split a password-protected PDF?: Not if the PDF asks for a password when you open it. Remove the password in a program where you know it, then split the unlocked copy.
Is my PDF stored?: No. It is uploaded over HTTPS, split for your request and discarded. There is no account and no copy kept. Files up to 500 MB are accepted, but very large files take longer to upload.

Step-by-step guides

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