How to get a PDF under 10 MB on Mac
Compress the PDF, check the size, and go one level further only if it’s still over the limit. With FileMate, right-click the PDF and choose Compress PDF. The result shows the new size. If it’s still above 10 MB, choose Stronger, then Maximum. No tool can promise an exact size, because it depends on what’s inside the PDF, but image-heavy PDFs usually come down a long way.
The PDF stays on your Mac until you upload the finished copy yourself.
Bring a PDF under the limit with FileMate
- Right-click the PDF in Finder and choose FileMate › Compress PDF.
- Read the result, for example “24.8 MB → 11.2 MB · 55% smaller”.
- Still over? Click Want a smaller file? in the result and try Stronger. It recompresses the images as JPEG and keeps text, links and forms.
- Still over? Try Maximum, which turns each page into an image. It’s the strongest option for scans, and FileMate warns you first.
Each level makes a new copy from the original, so quality never degrades by compressing a compressed copy twice.
Which level usually reaches which limit
These are rules of thumb, not guarantees. The result depends on how many images the PDF has and how they were stored.
| Your PDF | 10 MB limit | 5 MB limit | 2 MB limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text document with a few photos | Usually already under | Safe or Stronger | Stronger |
| Slides or brochure with many photos | Safe or Stronger | Stronger | Stronger or Maximum |
| Scanned pages (10 to 30 pages) | Stronger or Maximum | Maximum | Maximum, if the page count allows |
| Scanned pages (50+ pages) | Maximum | Maximum, or split it | Split the document |
Why nobody can promise “exactly under 10 MB”
A compressor can only remove image detail. How much detail there is to remove differs from one PDF to the next. A 12 MB PDF of 200 text pages may have almost nothing left to take out, while a high-resolution scan usually has much more to remove. Tools that promise a target size either guess or keep lowering quality until they hit it, which can leave scans unreadable.
FileMate shows the size after every step, so you decide when it’s small enough.
Check the size the way the website does
- Select the PDF in Finder and press Command-I. Finder shows the size in MB using 1,000,000 bytes per MB.
- Some upload forms count 1 MB as 1,048,576 bytes, so a “10 MB” limit can mean about 10.5 MB in Finder, or it can mean exactly 10,000,000 bytes. Aim a little under the limit to be safe.
- Check whether the limit applies to each file or to all files together. Portals for job applications and grant submissions often use a total.
If it still doesn’t fit
- Split the PDF. In Preview, choose View › Thumbnails, select a range of pages and drag them to the desktop to make a separate PDF. Upload the parts if the form accepts several files.
- Remove pages you don’t need. Cover pages, blank scans and duplicate pages all add up.
- Rescan at a lower resolution. For text documents, 200 dpi in greyscale is plenty. Scanning in colour at 600 dpi can make a single page larger than 5 MB.
Is Preview enough?
Sometimes. File › Export › Quartz Filter › Reduce File Size makes one fixed attempt. When it works, it can go further than needed and leave scans hard to read. When it doesn’t, there is no stronger or gentler setting to try, and the file can even come out larger. FileMate gives you three levels, each checked and reported.
Get FileMate
Right-click, Compress PDF, check the size, and step up a level only if you need to. The original stays untouched, and nothing is uploaded until you upload the finished file.
Normal price €9.99, now €4.99 incl. VAT
One payment, no subscription. macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.