Optimize PDF
Optimize PDF tidies up the structure of an existing document: drag pages into a new order, rotate individual pages in 90-degree steps, delete pages you no longer need, and clear the file's info fields such as author and producer. The pages themselves are copied unchanged, so text, fonts and graphics keep their original quality — and nothing is uploaded.
100% in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.
Features
- Drag the page thumbnails into any new order before the file is written.
- Rotate single pages in 90-degree steps with one click on the thumbnail.
- Delete blank sheets, duplicates or unwanted pages straight from the page grid.
- Clear the document info fields: title, author, subject, keywords, producer and creator.
- Pages are copied without re-rendering, so text, fonts and vector graphics stay intact.
- pdf-lib and pdf.js run entirely in your browser; the file is never uploaded.
About this tool
When you drop a file, the tool loads two open-source libraries: pdf.js renders a genuine thumbnail of every page so you see actual content instead of placeholders, while pdf-lib parses the document structure so it can be rewritten later. Both run as JavaScript inside your browser tab; the PDF is read into local memory and no copy is sent to any server.
Your edits are collected as a plan first: the current order, a rotation angle per page, and the list of removed pages. Only when you press Save does pdf-lib create a fresh PDF, copy the kept pages into it in your chosen sequence, and store each rotation as a page attribute. Nothing is rasterised — content streams, embedded fonts and vectors are transferred as they are.
If the metadata checkbox is ticked — it is by default — the info fields title, author, subject, keywords, producer and creator are written empty, so the exported file no longer names its origin. The result is then assembled in memory and offered as a download named after the original with an -optimized suffix. Cancel returns you to the start at any point without touching your file.
How to optimize a PDF
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Open your PDF
Drop the file onto the dropzone or click it to browse. After a short loading moment you see a grid with a real thumbnail of every page, each labelled with its original page number.
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Drag pages into order
Grab any thumbnail and drag it to a new position; the grid rearranges immediately. The number on each tile keeps showing where the page came from, so you never lose track.
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Rotate or remove pages
Each click on the rotate button turns a page 90 degrees clockwise, previewed live on the thumbnail. The x button takes a page out of the document; saving requires at least one page to be left.
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Decide about the metadata
Leave 'Remove metadata' ticked if the saved file should reveal neither author, title nor the software that created it. The checkbox only affects info fields, not anything visible on the pages.
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Save and download
Press Save. pdf-lib assembles the new document locally from the kept pages, applies the rotations, clears the metadata if selected, and your browser downloads the file with an -optimized suffix in its name.
Typical use cases
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Fixing a messy scan
A duplex scanner has fed some sheets upside down and the pile was out of order to begin with. Instead of scanning everything again, open the PDF here, rotate the flipped pages with a couple of clicks, drag the sheets into the right sequence and drop the blank back sides — the document is fixed in a minute.
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Sending a clean application file
Before you email a job application or a client report, you may not want the PDF to reveal the author name, the software that produced it or internal keywords. Remove leftover draft pages, check the page order, keep the metadata checkbox ticked and save a file that only shows what you intend to show.
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Tidying up a merged document
After merging several PDFs — chapters from colleagues, appendices, a cover — you often end up with duplicated title pages and sections in the wrong spot. Load the combined file, delete the duplicates, drag the chapters into their final sequence and export a version that reads as one coherent document.
Tips & limitations
- Because the pages are copied into a brand-new document, bookmarks (the outline panel) are not carried over, and interactive form fields may stop working. Keep the original if you rely on them.
- Every page gets a rendered thumbnail in memory, so documents with many hundreds of pages can feel sluggish on phones or older machines. Splitting the file first often helps.
- Removing the metadata clears hidden info fields only. Names printed in headers, footers or watermarks are page content and stay visible — this is not a redaction tool.
- Expect only a modest size reduction unless you delete pages, because images are not recompressed here. If file size is the actual goal, run the result through the Compress tool.
Frequently asked questions
Does text or image quality change when I save?
No. The tool never re-renders or rasterises pages. pdf-lib copies each kept page's content stream, embedded fonts and images unchanged into the new file; only the order, rotation attributes and metadata differ from the original.
Can I rotate pages by angles other than 90 degrees?
No. A PDF page can only store rotations of 0, 90, 180 or 270 degrees, and this tool sets exactly that attribute. Free-angle rotation would require redrawing the page content, which this tool deliberately avoids.
What exactly does the metadata option remove?
It empties the document info fields: title, author, subject, keywords, producer and creator. Because the output is a freshly built file, the original timestamps do not carry over either. Visible content and note texts on the pages stay untouched.
Does it work with password-protected PDFs?
Usually not. A file that asks for a password on opening cannot be read by the page preview, so you will see an error message. Remove the protection first in a program that knows the password, then optimize the unlocked copy.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. pdf.js and pdf-lib run as JavaScript in your browser tab; the file is read into local memory, edited there and downloaded from there. You can verify this in the browser's network panel while you work.
Will the file get smaller?
Only if you delete pages — and sometimes slightly through the clean rewrite. Images are not recompressed and fonts are not subsetted, so for real size savings run the result through the Compress tool afterwards.
Is there a limit on file size or page count?
There is no fixed limit, but everything happens in browser memory: the whole file plus one thumbnail per page. Very large documents work best in a desktop browser; on mobile devices they may load slowly or fail.
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