How to split a PDF

First: what kind of “split” do you need?

“Split a PDF” covers a few different jobs, and picking the right one saves you tidying up afterwards:

How to split a PDF with Split PDF

1. Open Split PDF and drop your file in. It reads the PDF on your device and shows you how many pages it has.
2. Choose how to divide it. Leave the split points empty for one file per page. Type ranges separated by commas to set your own sections. Or fill in split into groups of every with a number to cut it into equal chunks — if you set this, it takes priority over any ranges you’ve typed.
3. Save your files. If your choices produce one file, you get that PDF directly. If they produce several, they come together in a single .zip.

It handles one PDF at a time, up to a few hundred pages. Each page is copied from the original rather than re-rendered, so text stays selectable and images keep their quality. And since the whole process runs in your browser tab, nothing is sent anywhere — which is reassuring when the thing you’re splitting is a bank statement or a medical letter.

A worked example

Say you’ve scanned a pile of post into one 11-page PDF: a two-page council tax bill, a four-page insurance renewal, a one-page letter and a four-page bank statement. Type:

1-2, 3-6, 7, 8-11

You get a .zip with four PDFs, one per document, ready to file or forward. Rename each one as you save it and future you will be grateful.

How to split a PDF using “Print to PDF”

Every computer and phone can already save a chosen range of pages as a new PDF, through the print dialog. It’s one section per go, but it needs nothing extra.

Windows (Edge or Chrome)

1. Open the PDF in Edge or Chrome and press Ctrl + P.
2. Set the printer to Save as PDF (or Microsoft Print to PDF).
3. Under Pages, choose the custom option and enter a range, such as 5-8.
4. Click Save and name the new file. Repeat for each section.

Mac

The same approach works from Preview: File → Print, set the page range, then use the PDF menu at the bottom left and choose Save as PDF. Preview also has a faster trick: choose View → Thumbnails, select the pages you want (Command-click to pick several) and drag them onto the desktop. macOS saves them as a new PDF with “(dragged)” added to the name.

iPhone and Android

On an iPhone, open the PDF in the Files app, tap Share → Print, set the page range, then tap Share again and choose Save to Files. On Android, open the PDF, choose Print from the menu, set the printer to Save as PDF, pick your pages and tap the download button. The exact wording varies between phone makers.

The catch with printing: printing re-creates the pages rather than copying them, so things like clickable links, bookmarks and fillable form fields may not survive, and a long document with many sections means doing it over and over. For more than a couple of sections, a proper splitter is quicker.

Tips for splitting cleanly

• Use the PDF’s page numbers, not the printed ones. If a report has a cover and contents pages, “page 1” printed at the bottom might be page 4 of the PDF. Split tools count from the first page of the file.
• Remove blank pages separately. Double-sided scans often leave a blank page after each sheet. It’s easier to delete those first than to split around them.
• Splitting to fit a size limit? Splitting divides the file size roughly in proportion to the pages, but a few photo-heavy pages can carry most of the weight. If a part is still too big, see how to compress a PDF.
• Need pages as images instead? If the goal is to post a page online or drop it into slides, convert it to JPG rather than splitting.
• Changed your mind? Split files can always be put back together with Merge PDF.

What splitting doesn’t do

Splitting won’t unlock a protected PDF — if the file needs a password to open, remove it first with Unlock PDF (you’ll need to know the password). It also won’t divide a single page into two halves; that’s a job for Crop PDF.

Common questions