Split PDF

Purpose

Split a PDF into multiple independent files — by page range, by fixed page count, or by bookmark hierarchy. All splitting runs locally in your browser; source files are never uploaded. Free, unlimited, watermark-free. Splits preserve fonts, images and text layers, so output files open cleanly. Common uses: extract a single chapter from a large scan, split a contract's appendices for separate distribution, slice a long document into chapters for easier handoff.

Steps

1. Drag or pick the PDF to split
2. Confirm page count and content via the left-side thumbnails
3. Pick a split mode: "By page range", "Every N pages", or "By bookmarks"
4. For ranges, enter the page numbers you want to keep (e.g., 1-3,5,7-9)
5. For "Every N pages", enter N (defaults to 1 — one page per file)
6. For bookmark splitting, the tool auto-splits along level-1 bookmarks
7. Preview the resulting file list and per-file page counts
8. Click "Process"
9. Output is automatically packaged as ZIP, files named after the source plus an index

FAQ

Are files uploaded during splitting?

No. Reading, slicing and repackaging all happen via the browser-local pdf-lib library. The tool works offline once loaded.

Can the resulting files keep the original password?

If the source has an open password, decrypt it first with the Decrypt tool, then split. Splitting can't operate on encrypted PDFs directly — this prevents wrong-password failures partway through.

Does bookmark-based splitting work?

Yes. If the source has level-1 bookmarks (chapter titles, contract clauses, etc.), pick "By bookmarks" — each section's page range is detected automatically.

How do I enter page numbers?

Single pages (5), ranges (3-7), or mixed (1-3,5,8-10). Spaces and Chinese commas are also recognized. Duplicate or overlapping ranges are deduplicated.

Will image quality drop after splitting?

No. Splitting copies internal objects per page — no rasterization or recompression. Vector graphics, embedded fonts and text layers are preserved as-is.

Use cases

• Extract a single contract from a 200-page scanned compendium for one party
• Split a year of bank statements into 12 monthly files for archive
• Split a thesis by chapter to send to different advisors
• Break an ebook into individual chapters for fragmented reading
• Split a multi-student test scan into per-student files

Tip

Decide on a naming convention first: range splits produce names like "original-pages-1-3.pdf"; bookmark splits use bookmark titles. To extract a non-contiguous selection, the page-range mode is more flexible than per-N splitting.