How to compress a PDF without uploading it
Compress it on your Mac. Online PDF compressors require the document to be uploaded to their server before they can process it. FileMate compresses the PDF locally: right-click it in Finder and choose FileMate › Compress PDF. A smaller copy is saved next to the original, with text, links and forms intact at the default level. Preview’s Reduce File Size filter also works offline, with less control.
With FileMate, your PDF never leaves your computer.
Compress a PDF locally with FileMate
- Right-click the PDF in Finder.
- Choose FileMate › Compress PDF.
- The smaller copy is saved next to the original. Nothing was uploaded.
FileMate needs no account and works offline. It goes online only to activate your licence, once per Mac, and to check for updates if you ask it to.
Documents people upload to compressors
The PDFs that most often need compressing are the ones people least want to hand out: scanned passports for visa applications, signed contracts, bank statements for a mortgage, payslips for a rental, medical records for an insurer. They’re large because they’re scans, and they’re being compressed because a portal has a limit.
Online compressors require the document to be uploaded before they can process it. With FileMate, the compression happens on your Mac, and the only upload is the finished file, to the portal that asked for it.
Can I compress a PDF on Mac without uploading it?
Yes. Two ways work entirely on your Mac:
- Preview: open the PDF, choose File › Export, choose Reduce File Size from the Quartz Filter menu, and save. One fixed setting.
- FileMate: right-click the PDF in Finder and choose Compress PDF. Three levels, several PDFs at once, and the result shows the saving.
Does FileMate send anything about my files?
No. FileMate has no analytics, telemetry or crash reporting in the app. It never sends files, file names or anything about them. The only network requests it makes are licence activation, once per Mac, and update checks, which you start or turn on yourself.
Is it really offline?
Yes. After activation, you can turn off Wi-Fi and compress PDFs as usual. That’s also useful on a plane, on a train, or on a network that blocks upload sites.
Get FileMate
Contracts, statements, medical records: there is no reason to upload them just to make them smaller. FileMate compresses them where they are, on your Mac.
Normal price €9.99, now €4.99 incl. VAT
One payment, no subscription. macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.