Split a PDF into single pages and save each one as its own file

The short answer: choose "Every page"

1. Open Split PDF and choose your PDF. Its name, page count and size appear at the top, and every page shows as a card.
2. Under "Split how", choose Every page. It is the third choice, after Pick pages and By range, and it has no other settings.
3. Read the yellow button. It says how many files you will get, like "Split into 20 PDFs" for a 20-page file.
4. Press it, then press Download. The new files come together in one ZIP file named after your PDF, like report-split.zip.
5. Unpack the ZIP. Inside is one PDF for each page, named like report-page-1.pdf, report-page-2.pdf and so on.

Your original PDF is never changed. Each page is copied into its new file exactly as it is, never drawn again, so text stays sharp and scans keep every pixel. It all happens inside your browser: no upload, no sign-up, no watermark. That matters for the private papers people often split, such as salary slips, bank statements and ID scans.

What you get: the ZIP, the names and how to open it

A ZIP file is one file that holds several others, so they download together. When the work is done, a row shows your file's page count and size, an arrow, then the size of the ZIP, with the time taken and the words "nothing uploaded". Say your file is report.pdf and has 5 pages:

Your phone or computer can open a ZIP without any extra app. On Android, find it in Downloads in the Files app, tap it and choose Extract. On iPhone and iPad, find it in Downloads in the Files app and tap it: a folder with the pages appears beside it. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. On a Mac, double-click it. Send the single files from that folder, not the ZIP, unless the person asked for all of them.

Rename the files before you send them

The names say which page is inside, not what is on it. report-page-3.pdf means nothing to the person who gets it, while Priya-salary-slip-March.pdf does. Our tool names files by page number only: it does not read the page, so it cannot name a file after the person or invoice number printed on it. Rename them yourself: touch and hold a file on a phone, or right-click it on a computer, and look for Rename. Keep ".pdf" at the end.

Every page, only some pages, or pages in pairs

Before you press the button, ask whether every page needs its own file. Split PDF has a way for each answer:

Single-page files from only some pages

Choose Pick pages, the first choice under "Split how". Click the cards you want, or type their numbers in the "Pages to take out" box, like 1, 4, 7-9. Under "Save them as", choose A PDF per page. The button then says "Save 5 PDFs, one per page", because 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 are five pages. If you pick just one page, you get that single file and no ZIP.

A shortcut when you want nearly everything: press All, then click the few pages you do not want, because clicking a picked card unpicks it. Or type 2-, which means page 2 to the end and leaves out only the cover.

Pages that go together

Single pages are the wrong choice when one document takes two pages, like a scanned form with a front and a back. You would get two halves of every form. Choose By range instead, type 2 next to "Or cut every" and press Cut. Every two pages become one PDF. If the page numbers you type show a red line, the guide explains how to type page numbers.

One honest limit: Split PDF cuts between pages, never through one. It cannot cut a single page in two, such as a scan with two book pages side by side. It also does not look for blank separator pages or headings. It splits by page number only.

Jobs where one file per page is the answer

These are examples, to show the idea:

• Bills printed in one batch. If your accounts software gives you one PDF with an invoice on each page, split it and send each client only their own.
• Salary slips. If one PDF holds a slip for every month, single pages let you send one slip, say to a bank for a loan, and keep the rest private.
• Scanned ID papers. A scan with your Aadhaar card, PAN card and passport on separate pages becomes three files. Many portals want each paper in its own upload slot.
• Certificates, tickets and admit cards. A PDF with one of these on each page can go to each person as their own file.

A privacy point. When you email a combined PDF, everyone who gets it can see every page. Split it first and each person receives only what is theirs. Then check before you send: a file named report-page-7.pdf could be anyone's. Note which page belongs to whom before you split, and rename the files afterwards.

Not every job needs separate files. To reorder pages or delete a few and keep one file, use Organize PDF.

How big the files will be, and how long it takes

We split these files in Chromium 141, the open-source browser Google Chrome is built on, on a Linux computer with 4 processor cores and 16 GB of memory. Times are what the page reported. Your phone or computer may be faster or slower.

The textbook's single pages add up to far more than the book. That is normal for typed text and is not a fault. The pages of the original share their fonts. A PDF made from one page has to carry its own copy of the fonts that page uses, so every one of the 117 files brings its own. That repeated font copy is why the total grows.

A scan behaves the other way. Its pages are separate pictures that share almost nothing, so the new files add up to about the size of the original. (Our scan test cut every 5 pages, not every page.)

• The result shows the whole ZIP's size, not each page's. Unpack it to see each file's size, which is what an email or form limit counts.
• A ZIP holds up to 4 GB. If you see "Together these PDFs are over 4 GB, too big for one ZIP", make fewer files at a time.
• Memory is the real limit. We set no limit on size or pages, but your device's memory is one, and phones have less than computers. A very large scan is a job for a computer.

A very long file: do it in batches

If a long file is too much for your phone in one go, split it in parts. Choose Pick pages, type the first batch, like 1-50, choose A PDF per page and save. Then type 51-100 and save again, and so on. Each batch comes as its own ZIP, and the file names still carry the real page numbers, so nothing gets mixed up.

What each single page keeps, and what it loses

The rule is simple: whatever belongs to a page stays with it, and whatever points at another page is removed, because that page is no longer in the file.

• The page itself stays as it was. Text stays text, so you can still search, select and copy it. Each page keeps its size, crop and rotation, so an A4 page stays A4.
• Form fields on the page stay fillable. In our test, a two-page form split into single pages kept each page's 8 fields, still fillable.
• Links to other pages are removed. Links to websites still work. When we cut our textbook, which has 35 bookmarks and 509 links, into two halves, 316 links still worked and the 193 that led into the other half were removed. With one page per file, every link to any other page goes, because no other page is in the file.
• Bookmarks, the clickable contents in a PDF reader's side panel, stay only when they point at the page in that file. So a single page keeps at most the few bookmarks that lead to it, and many pages keep none. A contents list is no use in a one-page file anyway.
• Tags and page labels are dropped. Tags are the hidden structure screen readers follow; page labels are custom numbers like i, ii, iii. A number printed on the page stays, but the file counts that page as page 1.
• Your PDF's title and author go into every file, and so do any files attached inside the PDF. If the title holds something private, such as a client's name, or the PDF carries attachments, check its document properties in your PDF reader before you share a page.

We drew every page of every new PDF in our tests and compared it with the page it came from. All of them matched. The guide's section on bookmarks, links and forms has the full list.

Locked, signed and scanned PDFs

A password to open. Bank statements and salary slips sent by email are sometimes locked like this, and such a PDF cannot be split. Next to its name the page says "Locked with a password. Unlock it first, then add it again." Remove the password in your PDF reader, or with Unlock PDF if you know it, then add the unlocked copy. Split PDF itself cannot open a locked file.

Editing limits and digital signatures. A PDF that opens without a password but blocks changes still splits, and the new files open without those limits. A digital signature, the seal that proves a file has not changed, stops being valid on any split copy. In both cases the result row tells you. If someone must check the signature, send them the original too. The guide has more on locked and signed PDFs.

Scans. Split PDF copies pages as they are. It does not read or add text (it has no OCR, the step that turns a picture of words into real text). So if you could not search or copy the text of a scan before, you cannot in its single pages either. Pages scanned sideways come out sideways: turn them with Rotate PDF. If your papers are photos and not a PDF yet, make one first with JPG to PDF.

Other ways to split into single pages, and their catches

Other routes are fine for a page or two. For a whole file, they get slow:

Split PDF does every page in one go and keeps the file on your device, which matters for a salary slip, bank statement or Aadhaar card. The privacy section of the guide shows how to check that nothing leaves your device.

After splitting: shrink, send or join again

• Make a file smaller. If a page is still too big for an upload, use Compress PDF. It takes several PDFs at once and gives each its own Download button. For an exact limit, like 200 KB, use Resize PDF.
• Send it. Gmail takes attachments up to 25 MB and sends bigger files as a Google Drive link. On WhatsApp, use the Document option to attach it, so it arrives as the same PDF. To put a password on a page before you send it, use Protect PDF. If a portal has strict rules, use plain names without spaces or symbols, like marksheet_class12.pdf.
• Join pages again. Merge PDF joins PDFs in the order of its cards, so you can build a new file from the single pages you want.

Splitting into single pages on a phone

Open Split PDF in Chrome on Android, or in Safari on an iPhone or iPad. Tap "Choose a PDF file" and pick your PDF from the Files app or Downloads. A PDF that sits inside a WhatsApp chat or an email may need saving to your phone's files first.

• Every page is the easiest choice on a small screen. Nothing to tap or type. Choose it and press the button, which stays in view at the bottom of the screen.
• Find the ZIP afterwards. On Android it goes to your Downloads folder. On iPhone it usually goes to Downloads in the Files app.
• One PDF at a time. When the first is done, press "Split a different PDF" under the pages to start the next.
• Stay on the page while it works. Phones may pause or reload a browser tab you switch away from. If the page comes back empty, add the file again.

Problems and quick fixes

• The button says "This PDF has only one page". A one-page PDF cannot be split any further. To make it smaller, compress it.
• The yellow button can't be pressed. It waits until the PDF has opened. Look at the line next to the file's name: if it reports a problem, such as a password, see the part on locked PDFs above.
• I got a ZIP, but I wanted one file. Every page always makes one file per page. For one file with a few pages, choose Pick pages with "One PDF".
• The pages are in a muddled order in my folder. Page numbers in the names have no leading zeros (page-10, not page-010), and some apps sort names letter by letter, so page-10 can come before page-2. Rename them with padded numbers, like page-01, page-02.
• "These files are too big to handle in this browser's memory." Close other tabs and apps and try again, make fewer files at a time (see the batches tip above), or use a computer, which usually has much more memory than a phone.
• I wanted pictures, not PDFs. That is a different job: use PDF to JPG.