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Compress a statement PDF to fit the upload limit.
Shrink a statement PDF under an upload limit and check it still reads clearly.
Two ways to make a PDF smaller
Which one works depends on what is making the file big.
Shrink images, keep the text
Scans are big because each page is a high-resolution photo. This re-encodes only those photos at a lower resolution and quality, and leaves the text, tables, and any OCR layer untouched, so the file still searches and converts.
Rebuild pages as images
Every page is redrawn as a compact picture. It works on any PDF, but the result holds no text: it cannot be searched or copied, and a converter has to read it with OCR. Use it when size is all that matters.
Why a text PDF barely shrinks
A statement downloaded from online banking is text and a logo, usually well under a megabyte already. If one is still too big, it is almost always many months in one file, and splitting it is the better fix.
Black and white
Statements are black text on white. Dropping colour removes two of the three channels from every image, which cuts a scan's size further with no loss of legibility.
Check against your limit
Enter the portal's limit and the result says whether it fits. A result that is no smaller than the original is never offered for download, so you cannot end up with a worse file.
What changes in the file
Keeping the text keeps the document's own details, such as the bank's producer name and dates. The file's bytes still change, which any tool comparing it with the bank's original will notice. If a lender asks for the unaltered original, send that.
Questions
- How do I reduce the size of a bank statement PDF?
- Drop it here, keep “Shrink images, keep the text” and Medium, and choose Compress. If it is still over the limit, try Strong or black and white. Only if it is a text PDF that will not shrink, rebuild the pages as images.
- Will compressing make my statement look altered?
- The pages look the same, and keeping the text preserves the bank's document details. But the file is re-saved, so it is not byte for byte the bank's original. Where an underwriter asks for statements exactly as issued, upload the originals and ask how to send large files.
- Why is my scanned statement so large?
- A scanner or phone app stores each page as a photo, often at 300 dpi in colour. A statement is legible at a fraction of that, which is where the savings come from.
- Does this work for invoices and receipts too?
- Yes. Any PDF works the same way: photos of receipts and scanned invoices shrink the most, and PDFs generated by software shrink the least.
- My statement is password protected.
- Enter the password when asked. The compressed copy is saved without it.
- Is my PDF uploaded to be compressed?
- No. Everything happens in your browser, using its own image encoder. The file never leaves your device.
Related: splitting a statement instead, checking whether a PDF is a scan, and merging statements.
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Need the numbers, not a smaller file?
Bankflow reads statement PDFs up to 50 MB, scanned or not, and turns them into reconciled transactions you can export to Excel, CSV, QuickBooks, or Xero.
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