How to use it
- 500 KB is already selected — just tap “Select PDF” and choose your file.
- Turn on “Black & white” if the document is mostly text: the file gets smaller and the text cleaner.
- Wait while each page is compressed to fit 500 KB — you'll see the progress page by page.
- Check the new size and tap “Download PDF”.
When 500 KB is the limit
A 500 KB cap is common where a single upload holds several pages: experience certificates, a full set of marksheets, loan and KYC papers, or the “supporting documents” field of an application. Some portals write the limit as 0.5 MB, which is the same thing. Check your notification for the exact figure.
If the form has a separate upload box for each document, compress each PDF on its own instead of merging them — every file then gets the full 500 KB.
A complete workflow for document uploads
- Photographed your papers? Turn the photos into one PDF with JPG to PDF.
- Already have some PDFs (for example a downloaded certificate)? Join everything with Merge PDF, in the order the form asks for.
- Compress the final file here to 500 KB and upload it.
What to expect at 500 KB
- Up to about five pages, each page gets 100 KB or more — clear even in colour.
- Around ten pages, each gets roughly 50 KB — use Black & white for text-heavy pages.
- Twenty or more pages leave under 25 KB per page. Keep only the pages that are required, or check whether 1 MB is allowed.
Bank statements and digitally signed PDFs
PDFs downloaded from net banking, DigiLocker or government websites are usually digital, not scanned, so they are often small already — check the size before compressing. If such a file is over 500 KB, compressing it works, but keep two things in mind:
- The text becomes part of an image, so it can't be selected or copied any more.
- A digital signature (the “signature valid” mark on DigiLocker documents and e-Aadhaar) does not survive any change to the file. If the verifier needs the signed original, upload that instead.