How to split a PDF into separate files
Quick answer
Upload your PDF, choose how to split it (by page range or into one file per page), then download the resulting files.
- 1Upload your PDF.
- 2Choose how to split it.
- 3Click Split PDF.
- 4Download the separate files.
Free, no sign-up, and your file is read on your own device rather than uploaded.
Splitting is the opposite job to merging: you have one PDF and need pieces of it as separate files - chapters of a report each sent to a different person, or a scanned batch of forms that need to become individual documents again.
The two common ways to split are by page range (you decide where each new file begins and ends) and one-file-per-page (every page becomes its own PDF, useful for a batch of separate forms scanned together).
Step by step
Tips
- If you only need one section out of a longer document rather than the whole thing split up, Extract PDF Pages is more direct - it gives you just that one piece.
- One-file-per-page is the fastest route when a batch of scanned forms was saved as a single multi-page PDF and each form needs to be its own file again.
- Check the page count before you set your ranges - it's shown as soon as the file opens, so you can plan the split accurately.
Common problems
You only want one section, not the whole document split up.
Use Extract PDF Pages instead - choose the specific pages you want and get them as a single new file, without splitting the rest of the document at all.
You're not sure where page ranges should divide the document.
Open PDF Inspector first to see the page count and a quick summary of each page, which makes it easier to pick sensible break points.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I split a PDF by specific page ranges?
- Yes - define exactly where each new file should begin and end, and each range becomes its own downloaded PDF.
- Can I split every page into its own file?
- Yes - the one-file-per-page option turns each page of the original into a separate, individually downloadable PDF.
- What's the difference between splitting and extracting pages?
- Splitting divides the whole document into several new files. Extracting pulls out just the specific pages you choose as one new file, leaving the rest of the split aside entirely.
- Is my file uploaded to a server?
- No. Splitting happens entirely in your browser, on your own device.
- Will splitting change the content of the pages?
- No - each resulting file contains the original pages exactly as they were, just divided into separate documents.
Related PDF tools
- Extract PDF PagesKeep only the pages you choose, as a new PDF.
- Merge PDFCombine several PDFs into one file, in the order you choose.
- Organise PDFReorder, rotate, duplicate and delete pages on a visual board of thumbnails.
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