How to split a PDF into separate files
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Contents
To split a PDF into separate files, open the Split PDF tool, pick your document, and choose how to divide it: custom page ranges, every N pages, one file per page, a maximum file size, its bookmarks, or every page that contains a word you type. The split runs immediately; a single piece saves as a PDF, and several pieces download together as one ZIP.
What sets this approach apart is where the work happens. Split PDF runs entirely in your browser, so the file stays on your device from start to finish — nothing is sent anywhere to be processed. There is no account to create and nothing to install; you pick a file, split it, and save the results.
This guide walks through each split mode, what the output looks like, and the limits worth knowing before you start — including when a neighboring tool like Extract Pages is the better fit for the job.
Step by step
- 1Open the Split PDF tool.
- 2Pick the PDF you want to split — it stays on your device the whole time.
- 3Choose a split mode: custom page ranges, every N pages, one file per page, by file size, by bookmarks or by text.
- 4Define the split: for ranges, list the page spans that should become separate files; for the every-N-pages rule, set how many pages each piece should hold. One file per page splits at every page boundary — each page of the document becomes its own PDF. For by text, type the word or phrase that marks where each new file should start.
- 5Run the split — the processing happens in your browser, not on a server.
- 6Download the result. When there is more than one piece they arrive together as a ZIP, and a single piece saves as a plain PDF. Every piece is a complete, standard PDF.
Choose the right split mode
Split PDF offers six ways to divide a document, and picking the right one saves rework. Custom page ranges fit documents with a known structure: give each chapter, exhibit, or section its own range and each becomes its own file. The every-N-pages rule fits uniform documents — batch scans, multi-page statements, anything that repeats at a fixed length — because you set the interval once and the tool cuts at every boundary. One file per page is the blunt instrument: every single page becomes its own PDF, useful when each page must stand alone. By file size packs pages into each file until the next one would take it over the limit you set, and by bookmarks starts a file at each top-level bookmark.
By text is for documents that announce their own boundaries: a batch of invoices where each begins with “Invoice number”, or statements that each open with “Account summary”. Every page whose text contains the phrase starts a new file, and pages before the first one form a file of their own. Line breaks inside the phrase do not matter, and capitals only count when Match case is ticked. It reads the PDF's own text, so a scanned page without a text layer cannot start a file; the tool names any such pages, and OCR PDF can add the missing text first.
If what you actually want is a handful of specific pages combined into one new document — rather than the whole file divided into pieces — the Extract Pages tool is the closer fit. It lets you pick pages by clicking thumbnails or typing a range like 1-3, 5, then exports them as a brand-new PDF, also right in your browser.
What the output looks like
Every piece the split produces is a complete, standard PDF that opens in any reader — no special format, no wrapper. When the split produces more than one piece, the results download together as a single ZIP, so they arrive as one download instead of a scatter of separate saves; unzip it and each range, interval, or page is there as its own file. A split that produces only one piece saves it as a plain PDF, with no archive around it. If you later need some pieces back together as one document, the Merge PDF tool combines PDFs into one, in any order — also in your browser.
Where the split happens
Split PDF is an in-browser tool. The processing runs entirely on your device, and the file never leaves it — there is no server step in the path from picking a file to saving the result. That also means no account: nothing about the flow requires identifying yourself.
One honest nuance: the tool is not fully offline. The page and its processing engine load over the network, and parts of the engine are fetched the first time a step needs them. The processing itself runs on your device. Chinese, Japanese or Korean text whose font is not embedded in the PDF needs a character map, downloaded from our site the first time it is needed, and that step needs a connection.
Limits to know
The tool accepts PDF input up to 100 MB per file. Because the work happens on your device, that ceiling is the main constraint to plan around — there is no queue and no transfer to wait on. The cap applies to the input PDF you pick: a file over it is refused before any work starts, so an over-cap document cannot be split here. If you control the source, export a smaller PDF from the original application and split that.
Common questions
Does Split PDF send my file to a server?
No. The tool runs entirely in your browser — the file stays on your device from start to finish, and the split output is produced and saved locally.
How large can the PDF be?
Up to 100 MB per file. The cap applies to the input PDF you pick.
Can I split a PDF so every page becomes its own file?
Yes. Choose the one-file-per-page mode and each page of the document becomes its own PDF. When the document has more than one page, the results download together as a ZIP so you get everything in one save.
Does Split PDF work offline?
Not fully. The page and its processing engine load over the network, and parts of the engine are fetched the first time a step needs them. The processing itself runs on your device. Chinese, Japanese or Korean text whose font is not embedded in the PDF needs a character map, downloaded from our site the first time it is needed, and that step needs a connection.
What if I only need a few specific pages?
Use Extract Pages instead: pick pages by clicking thumbnails or typing a range like 1-3, 5, and export them as one brand-new PDF. It runs in your browser too, so that file also stays on your device. Split PDF is for dividing the whole document into multiple output files.