How to split a PDF
‘Splitting’ a PDF can mean two different things, and knowing which you want makes the job quick: breaking one PDF into several separate files, or pulling a chosen set of pages out of a larger document.
Splitting into multiple files vs. extracting pages
Use splitting when you want to break a document apart — for example turning a 50-page bundle into one file per section, or one file per page. Use extraction when you want to keep just a specific subset — pages 5 to 9, or pages 1, 3 and 10 — as a single new file and discard the rest.
Most people searching for ‘split’ actually want extraction: they need the three relevant pages out of a long report, not fifty separate one-page files. Picking the right operation saves a lot of cleanup.
Writing page ranges
Both operations use the same simple notation for choosing pages: a hyphen for a continuous range and commas to combine selections. So 5-9 means pages five through nine, and 1,3,10-12 means page one, page three, and pages ten through twelve. The pages keep their original order and full quality in the new file.
Everything runs in your browser, so even a confidential document is never uploaded, and your original file stays untouched — you simply download the new, smaller PDF.