What extracting PDF pages means
Extracting pages means taking a subset of the pages in a PDF and writing them out as a new, smaller PDF. Removing pages is the same operation in reverse: everything stays except the pages you name. In both cases the result is one document, and each page it contains is a faithful copy of the original — the selectable text, the embedded fonts, the vector graphics and the images all come across unchanged.
This is different from splitting a PDF, which writes every page as its own separate file. Here you decide which pages belong together and get a single document back. It is also different from printing to PDF or taking screenshots, which flatten the page into a picture and lose the text layer.
How to extract pages from a PDF
- Open the PDF. Drop the file onto the box above, or click to browse. The document is read from your disk by the browser and its page count is shown; no copy is sent anywhere.
- Type the pages. Enter the pages as single numbers and ranges, like
1-3, 5, 8-10. The order you type them is the order they will appear, so you can reorder pages as well as select them. - Choose keep or remove. Keep these pages builds a PDF from exactly the pages you listed. Remove these pages builds a PDF of everything except them — useful for dropping a cover sheet or a blank page.
- Build and download. Click Build PDF. A single new PDF is assembled in your browser and offered as a download, with the pages copied intact rather than flattened to images.
What comes out
- One new PDF containing exactly the pages you kept, or everything except the pages you removed.
- Real page copies — text stays selectable and searchable, fonts and vector content are preserved, and images keep their resolution.
- Pages in the order you typed them, so a list like
3, 1, 2reorders as well as selects. - A summary of how many pages the new file has, how many were kept or removed, and the output size.
The original file on your disk is never modified; the tool only produces a new download.
What is supported, and what is not
Page syntax: single pages (5), ranges (8-10) and any
combination separated by commas. Page numbers are one-based, matching what a reader shows. A reversed
range such as 10-8 is accepted and read as 8 to 10. Numbers outside the document’s
range are ignored, and duplicates are collapsed, so a page is never added twice.
Preserved: the full content of every kept page — text, fonts, vector drawings and images — because pages are copied at the object level, not rendered. Page size and orientation are kept per page, so a document that mixes portrait and landscape stays correct.
Not carried over: bookmarks and the document outline are not rebuilt for the new file, and interactive form fields, annotations and links that point to pages you dropped may not survive. Password-protected PDFs must have their password removed in a PDF reader first — an encrypted document cannot be read here. Very large PDFs are held in memory, so extremely big files are limited by your device’s RAM rather than by any upload cap.
Why the PDF is never uploaded
The file is read from your disk and rewritten inside your browser using pdf-lib, a PDF library that runs as JavaScript on your own device. No server takes part, so the document never leaves your computer. For the full explanation of how browser-based file processing works, see the security page.
This matters because the PDFs people most often need to trim are the sensitive ones — a contract where only two pages are relevant, a bank statement with one page to share, a report with an internal cover memo to drop. Doing it locally means none of the surrounding pages are ever disclosed to anyone.
What this tool does not do
This tool selects and rewrites whole pages. It deliberately does not:
- Edit the content of a page. It keeps or drops pages as a whole; it does not change the text or images on a page.
- Merge two different PDFs. It works within one document at a time.
- Rebuild bookmarks or forms. The outline is not regenerated, and form fields or links tied to removed pages may break.
- Open encrypted PDFs. Remove the password in a reader first.
- Compress the result. The new PDF is not re-optimised for size beyond dropping the pages you removed.
Who extracts or removes PDF pages
- Sharing a subset — sending someone just the three pages of a long report that concern them, not the whole file.
- Dropping a cover or blank page — removing a fax cover sheet, a signature page or a blank scan from the end.
- Pulling a section — lifting one chapter or appendix out of a manual into its own document.
- Reordering — putting scanned pages back into the right sequence when a document feeder shuffled them.
- Redacting by omission — leaving out the pages that should not be seen rather than blacking them out.
Extracting pages compared with splitting and other PDF tools
The PDF page splitter writes every page as its own file; this tool keeps or removes the specific pages you choose and returns one document. Use the splitter when you want each page separately, and the extractor when you want a curated subset in a single PDF.
To pull the words out of a PDF rather than whole pages, use the PDF text extractor; for the pictures, the PDF image extractor; for a table into a spreadsheet, the PDF table extractor. All of them, like this one, run entirely in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
How do I extract a single page from a PDF?
Open the PDF here, type that page's number, leave the mode on Keep these pages, and click Build PDF. You get a one-page PDF to download. Nothing is uploaded.
How do I remove pages from a PDF?
Open the PDF, type the pages to drop, choose Remove these pages, and click Build PDF. The new file has everything except those pages.
Can I keep several ranges at once?
Yes. Combine single pages and ranges with commas, like 1-3, 5, 8-10. They are added in the order you type them, so you can reorder pages as well.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. The file is read and rewritten inside your browser with pdf-lib. It never leaves your device, which is what a contract or statement needs.
Does the extracted PDF keep selectable text?
Yes. Pages are copied at the object level, so text stays selectable and searchable and fonts, vectors and images are preserved. Nothing is flattened to an image.
Can I reorder the pages?
Yes. In Keep mode the pages appear in the order you list them, so typing 3, 1, 2 reorders the document as it extracts.
Why will it not open my PDF?
The most common reason is that the PDF is password-protected. Remove the password in a PDF reader and try again. A file that is not really a PDF will also be refused.
What is the difference between this and the PDF page splitter?
The splitter writes every page as its own separate PDF. This tool keeps or removes the pages you choose and returns one combined PDF.