How to Split a PDF File Online
Splitting a PDF divides one document into multiple separate files — by page range, by bookmarks, by file size, or into individual pages. This is useful for sharing specific sections, reducing email attachment size, or separating multi-document scans.
5 ways to split a PDF
There are five distinct split operations, each suited to a different scenario:
1. **Split by page range** — extract pages 1–10 from a 50-page document. Best for sharing specific chapters or sections.
2. **Split into individual pages** — create one PDF per page. Best for converting scanned multi-page documents into individual files.
3. **Split every N pages** — divide a 60-page document into files of 20 pages each. Best for batch processing or printing.
4. **Split by bookmarks** — divide at each chapter/section bookmark. Best for ebooks, reports, and documents with a table of contents.
5. **Split by file size** — divide until each output file is under a target size (e.g., 10 MB). Best for meeting email attachment limits.
How to split a PDF by page range (step by step)
1. Go to the WhiskFile Split PDF tool.
2. Upload your PDF. Files up to 50 MB are accepted on the free plan.
3. Select the split mode: "By page range", "Every N pages", or "Into individual pages".
4. Enter your page ranges. For example, enter "1-5, 6-20, 21-end" to create three output files.
5. Click "Split PDF". The results download as a ZIP file containing each section as a separate PDF.
How to split a PDF by bookmarks
1. Go to the WhiskFile Split PDF by Bookmarks tool.
2. Upload your PDF. The tool will detect and list all bookmarks (chapter titles, section headers) in the document.
3. Select which bookmarks to split on — by default, all top-level bookmarks are used as split points.
4. Click "Split by Bookmarks". Each section between two bookmarks becomes a separate PDF file, named after the bookmark text.
How to split a large PDF to fit email attachments
1. Go to the WhiskFile Split PDF by Size tool.
2. Upload your PDF and set the target size limit (e.g., 10 MB to fit Gmail attachments with room to spare).
3. The tool divides the PDF into chunks, each under the target size. It splits on page boundaries — it will not split in the middle of a page.
4. Download the ZIP file containing all parts, numbered sequentially (part-1.pdf, part-2.pdf, etc.).
Frequently asked questions
- Can I split a PDF into individual pages?
- Yes. In the Split PDF tool, choose "Split into individual pages" and each page becomes a separate PDF file. All pages are delivered in a single ZIP download.
- Does splitting a PDF reduce quality?
- No. Splitting is a lossless operation — each output file contains the original page content at full quality.
- Can I split a password-protected PDF?
- No. Remove the password first using the Unlock PDF tool, then split the document.
- What is the page limit for splitting?
- There is no page limit. You can split PDFs of any page count. File size limits apply (50 MB free, 500 MB paid).
- How do I split a PDF by chapter?
- Use the Split PDF by Bookmarks tool. If the PDF has a proper table of contents with bookmarks, each chapter will be detected automatically. If it doesn't, use Split by Page Range and manually enter the chapter start and end pages.