Split PDF
Cut a document into separate files, or pull out the pages you need. The files you are about to save are on screen, named and page by page, before you press anything.
Drop the PDF in, cut where you want, save the parts.
Drop a PDF. Choose where it splits.
Every page becomes a tile. Cut between any two of them, or type the ranges. Both do the same thing.
or drop it anywhere in this panel · nothing is uploaded←→ move between pages · Space cuts after the page you are on ·⌘Z undoes it
From one file to several, in three steps
Drop your PDF in
One file, up to 3,000 pages. Every page appears as a tile in reading order, numbered as your reader numbers them.
Cut where you want it
Click the scissors between any two pages, or type the ranges. The file list on the right changes as you do it, so you can see what you are about to get.
Name them and download
The button counts what you are about to get. Rename any file, save one on its own, or take the whole set as a zip. Every file is built in this tab.
Using the PDF splitter
Drop in a PDF and the panel fills with one tile per page. The right column is the answer: a live list of the files you are about to get, each with the pages it holds and a name you can change.
What you can hand it
One PDF at a time, of two pages or more.
| Input | What happens |
|---|---|
| A PDF of 2 to 3,000 pages | Every page becomes a tile. Pages keep their own size, so a landscape page stays landscape. |
| A one-page PDF | Refused, with the reason on screen. There is nothing to split. |
| A PDF with a broken index | The reader rebuilds the index from the file's own objects rather than refusing it. |
| An encrypted PDF | Refused by name. Remove the password in the app that made it first. |
| Several PDFs at once | Only the first is opened. To join files instead, use Merge PDF. |
Split and Extract do different jobs
The two buttons at the top left are the only real choice on the panel, and everything else follows from which one is lit.
Split keeps every page
The cuts decide where one file ends and the next begins. Nothing is left behind, so the page counts of the parts always add up to the page count you started with.
Extract keeps what you pick
Click the pages you want and the rest are dropped. This is the one for pulling page 7 out of a contract, or the three pages of an invoice out of a statement.
The page canvas and the scissors
A scissor button sits on the seam to the right of every tile. Pressing it cuts the document after that page, and a dashed accent line marks the edge of the file that ends there.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Scissors between two pages | Cuts there, or removes a cut that is already there. Only in Split. |
| Click a page | Keeps or drops it. Hold Shift to take everything between it and the last one you clicked. Only in Extract. |
| Cut every n pages | Replaces the cuts with one every n pages. Set it to 1 to give every page its own file. |
| In half | One cut in the middle. An odd page count puts the extra page in the first half. |
| Clear cuts | Removes every cut, leaving one file again. Undo brings them back. |
| All / Odd / Even / None | Picks pages by position in Extract. Odd and even count the page numbers you can see. |
| Undo / Redo | Steps back and forward through every cut, pick and mode change. Sixty steps are kept. |
The chip under each thumbnail names the file that page is going into, and the tiles alternate shade so the groups read at a glance. Hovering a row in the file list outlines its own pages.
Typing page ranges instead
The Ranges field and the canvas are two editors for one thing. Type in it and the cuts move; cut on the canvas and the field rewrites itself.
| What you type | What you get from a 12-page PDF |
|---|---|
1-3, 4-8 | Split: three files, of pages 1-3, 4-8 and 9-12. Every range ends a file and the leftover becomes the last one. |
6 | Split: two files, of pages 1-6 and 7-12. |
1, 4, 7-9 | Extract: one file of five pages, in that order. Turn off "Put them all in one file" and you get three. |
9- | An open end means "to the last page". -4 means "from the first". |
3-1 | Read as 1-3. A backwards range is a typo, not an instruction to reverse. |
Splitting a PDF with the keyboard
Every action has a key, because clicking forty scissors is slow work.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ← → ↑ ↓ | Moves between pages. |
| Space or Enter | Cuts after the page you are on, in Split. Keeps or drops it, in Extract. |
| Shift with an arrow | Takes a run of pages in Extract. |
| ⌘A / Ctrl A | Keeps every page, in Extract. |
| ⌘Z, ⇧⌘Z | Undo and redo. |
| Home / End | Jumps to the first or last page. |
Naming the files and saving them
The parts of a split usually go to different people, so they are worth naming. Each row in the file list holds an editable name, and the download arrow beside it saves that part on its own.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Files / Pages kept | A live count of what you are about to save, and how many of the original pages survive it. |
| The name in a file row | Names that one file. Characters a filesystem refuses are replaced. Moving a cut resets the names you have not set. |
| The arrow in a file row | Builds and saves that one file. The others are not built, so it is quick even on a long document. |
| Name these files | The stem every unnamed file uses, numbered from 1. |
| Split into n files | Builds them and saves. One file downloads as a PDF, several as a zip. It stays off, reading Choose where to cut, until you have made a cut, because splitting into one file would just hand your document back. |
| Another PDF / Start again | Swaps the document, or clears the panel completely. |
How this compares with the tools that rank above it
All five were run on the same synthetic 12-page PDF on 13 September 2026, 17,667 bytes, and the rows record what each one actually did rather than what its page claims.
| Tool | Page thumbnails | Output shown before you save | Rename a part | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| floi | Yes, in both modes | Yes, a live list of named files | Yes, each one | Your browser |
| iLovePDF | Range mode shows the first and last page only | No | No | Their server |
| Smallpdf | Yes, with scissors between them | Cut marks, not files | No | Their server |
| pipefile | Yes | No | No | Your browser |
| ihatepdf.cv | None. Numbered chips only | A list of file names, no pages | No | Your browser |
Two rivals beat floi on something, and both are worth saying out loud. Smallpdf can rotate and delete pages on the same screen, which this tool deliberately leaves to Merge PDF. ihatepdf.cv can split on a size budget and at chapter bookmarks, which floi cannot do at all.
Your original file is never modified. Splitting reads it and writes new documents, so the PDF on your disk is exactly as it was.
Full screen and saved settings
Full screen opens the same panel in a focused workspace, with Narrow, Wide and Full in its bar. Done, Escape and your browser's Back button all return to the page with your cuts intact.
Signed in, your mode and file name save automatically to your private account. Completed activity records the output count and date. Your PDF, cuts and thumbnails are never included, and never leave the tab.
What it will not do
It cuts a document into parts. It does not edit the pages, and a few document-level structures do not survive being carried into a new file.
- No encrypted PDFs, and no password prompt. Remove the password in the original app first.
- No splitting by file size and no splitting at chapter bookmarks. Cut by page or by range.
- No rotating, reordering or deleting pages. That is Merge PDF, which does all three on the same canvas.
- Bookmarks, named destinations and the tagging structure of an accessible PDF are not carried into the parts. The text is identical, but a screen reader falls back to the visual order.
- A link to a page that ended up in a different part is made inert rather than sent somewhere wrong.
- 3,000 pages and 300 MB in one session. Your device may run out of memory first on a very large scan.
To join files instead of cutting one, use Merge PDF. To turn the pages into pictures, use PDF to Images.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser reads the file, copies the pages into new documents, and saves them locally. Nothing is sent to a server, so the tool keeps working with your connection switched off after the page has loaded. The three tools ranking above this one for "split pdf" all upload your document and hold the result on their servers for a period.
What is the difference between Split and Extract?
Split keeps every page. The cuts decide where one file ends and the next begins, so nothing is left behind. Extract keeps only the pages you pick and drops the rest, which is what you want when you need page 7 of a contract and nothing else.
Can I split one page out of a PDF?
Yes. Switch to Extract, click the page you want, and press Extract and download. One page, one file, no zip. You can also press the download arrow on any single file in the list to save that part without building the others.
Does splitting reduce quality?
No. Pages are copied rather than redrawn, so each one keeps the content streams and images it arrived with. Nothing is rasterised and no image is re-encoded. Text stays selectable and searchable.
Is there a watermark, a page limit or a daily quota?
None of the three. The panel holds 3,000 pages and 300 MB, and those are memory limits in your own browser rather than a plan. You can split as often as you like.
Can I split a password-protected PDF?
Not while it is encrypted. The tool refuses the file rather than guessing at it, and says so by name. Open it in the app that made it, save a copy without the password, then split that.