# Compress PDF to 5 MB

> Get a scanned or photo-heavy PDF under 5 MB for an application form or email. Nibbo searches for the sharpest images that still fit, on your own device.

URL: https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-5mb/

## What fits in 5 MB

5 MB is a common limit for job applications, university portals and email attachments in some companies.

5 MB holds around 50 scanned pages at 150 DPI, or a long text document with photos.

## How it works

1. Each photo is resized to the chosen resolution for the largest size it can appear on the page, then saved as JPEG.
2. Unused objects, embedded page thumbnails and (if you like) metadata are removed, and the file structure is packed into compressed streams.
3. In target-size mode we try settings from gentlest to strongest with a binary search and keep the best one that fits.

## Questions

### What if the PDF still doesn’t fit 5 MB?

Nibbo shows the smallest result it could reach. Scan the pages in greyscale, remove pages you don’t need, or split the PDF and upload the parts.

### Why didn’t my PDF get smaller?

PDFs made of text and vector graphics (most exported documents) are already compact. The savings come from photos and scans; if there are none, we tell you instead of handing back a bigger file.

### Will text stay sharp?

Yes. Text and vector drawings are not touched; only embedded pictures are re-encoded.

### Is the result still searchable?

Yes, the text layer is kept.

## Related

### PDF tools

- [Compress PDF](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf/)
- [JPG to PDF converter](https://nibbo.org/en/jpg-to-pdf/)
- [PDF to JPG converter](https://nibbo.org/en/pdf-to-jpg/)
- [Merge PDF files](https://nibbo.org/en/merge-pdf/)
- [PDF to Word converter](https://nibbo.org/en/pdf-to-word/)

### Compress PDF to a size

- [Compress PDF to 100 KB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-100kb/)
- [Compress PDF to 200 KB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-200kb/)
- [Compress PDF to 300 KB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-300kb/)
- [Compress PDF to 500 KB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-500kb/)
- [Compress PDF to 800 KB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-800kb/)
- [Compress PDF to 1 MB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-1mb/)
- [Compress PDF to 2 MB](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-pdf-to-2mb/)

### More tools

- [Compress image to an exact size](https://nibbo.org/en/compress-image/)
- [Audio converter](https://nibbo.org/en/audio-converter/)