PDFViewerSplit a PDF or extract pages
To split a PDF, extract the pages you need with Preview on Mac, Chrome's print dialog with a page range, PDFsam Basic, or qpdf on the command line. PDF Viewer on this site has no split tool, but it has a workaround that covers most cases: delete the pages you do not want and download the rest, all in the browser with nothing uploaded. Here is when the workaround is enough and when you need a real splitter.
Which split PDF method for which case
| Case | Method | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Keep one range, drop the rest, no install | Viewer: delete pages, Download | Browser only, nothing uploaded |
| Any OS, one range, no install | Chrome or Edge, Print, Pages 3-7, Save as PDF | Flattens links and annotations |
| Mac | Preview, drag thumbnails to the desktop, or Print with a range | Each dragged selection becomes a PDF |
| Every N pages, by bookmarks, by size | PDFsam Basic (free, desktop) | Batch, many split modes |
| Scriptable, exact ranges | qpdf --pages | Lossless, keeps links and forms |
| Acrobat Pro | Organize Pages, Split | By page count, file size or bookmarks |
| Phone, non-sensitive file | Online splitter (iLovePDF, Smallpdf) | Uploads the file |
A scanned PDF splits exactly like a text PDF; the pages are just images. If you also want the extracted part searchable, run OCR on it after splitting, since OCR time depends on page count.
Main method: delete pages in the viewer and download
For the common case, keep pages 4 to 9 of a 30-page file, the viewer on this site does the job without a split feature:
- Open the PDF in the viewer by dropping it on the page.
- In the thumbnails sidebar, delete every page outside the range you want. See delete PDF pages for the controls.
- Click Download. The new file contains only the remaining pages; the original on your disk is untouched.
- To make a second part, reopen the original and repeat with a different range.
This works for text PDFs and scans, keeps the pages as they are, and the file never leaves the browser. It is slow for a 300-page scan split into 30 parts; use PDFsam or qpdf for that.
Chrome or Edge: open the PDF in the browser, Ctrl+P, Destination Save as PDF, Pages: 4-9, Save. Quick, but the output is a printed copy: links, bookmarks and form fields are flattened. Preview (Mac): show thumbnails, select the pages (Cmd-click), drag them onto the desktop; Preview writes a new PDF from the selection. PDFsam Basic: Split module, choose After every page, After page numbers, or By bookmarks, set an output folder, Run. qpdf: qpdf input.pdf --pages . 4-9 -- part1.pdf; --split-pages=1 makes one file per page.
What can go wrong when splitting
- Printing instead of extracting. Chrome's Save as PDF re-renders the pages. Searchable text usually survives, but links, bookmarks, form fields and comments do not.
- Bookmarks and outline. Most splitters drop bookmarks pointing to pages that are no longer in the file; qpdf and Acrobat keep the rest.
- Page labels. Roman-numeral front matter and chapter numbering restart from 1 in the new file.
- File size. Extracting 5 pages from a 30 MB file does not give a 5 MB file if fonts or shared images are large; see compress PDF.
- Permissions. A PDF with an owner password may refuse page extraction in some tools; remove the restrictions first if it opens without a password.
The opposite operation, joining the parts again, is covered in merge PDF, which the viewer does natively by appending one PDF to another.
Splitting by bookmarks, by size or every N pages
Beyond a single range, the desktop tools cover the structured cases.
- Every N pages. PDFsam Basic, Split module, Split after every N pages, writes a numbered series. qpdf does the same with
qpdf big.pdf --split-pages=10 part.pdf, which produces part-01-10.pdf, part-11-20.pdf and so on. - By bookmarks. PDFsam's Split by bookmarks cuts at every bookmark of a chosen level, ideal for a book with one bookmark per chapter. Acrobat Pro's Organize Pages, Split offers Top-level bookmarks as well.
- By file size. PDFsam Split by size and Acrobat Split by file size make parts that fit an email limit, though parts end mid-chapter.
- Odd and even pages.
qpdf in.pdf --pages . 1-z:odd -- odd.pdfand:evenfor the other half, useful for double-sided scans done in two passes; merge and reorder afterward. - Several ranges into one file.
qpdf in.pdf --pages . 1-3,10-12 -- out.pdf, with no re-rendering.
All of these keep the original page streams, so quality is unchanged and a searchable PDF stays searchable.
Check the result
Open each part in the online PDF viewer: the thumbnails should show exactly the pages you expected, in order and upright. Press Ctrl+F for a word on the first page to confirm the text layer is there. If a page is sideways, rotate it and download again. Nothing is uploaded, so splitting a contract or a medical record this way is safe.
Frequently asked questions
How do I split a PDF into separate pages?
PDFsam Basic's Split module with After every page, or qpdf --split-pages=1, writes one file per page. For a few pages, delete the others in the viewer and download.
How to split a PDF for free without Adobe?
Delete unwanted pages in the viewer on this site and download, use Chrome's print dialog with a page range, drag thumbnails out of Preview on Mac, or install PDFsam Basic.
How to extract one page from a PDF?
Open the PDF in the viewer, delete every other page and download; or print just that page to PDF from Chrome; or drag its thumbnail out of Preview.
How to split a PDF on Mac?
In Preview, open the thumbnails sidebar, select the pages you want and drag them to the desktop. Preview creates a new PDF from the selection.
Can this PDF viewer split a PDF?
Not with a dedicated tool. The workaround is to delete the pages you do not need and download; the file stays in your browser.
Does splitting a PDF reduce quality?
No, if you use qpdf, PDFsam, Preview, Acrobat or the viewer's delete-and-download: pages are copied as is. Printing to PDF re-renders and can lose links.