Why split a PDF?
Two scenarios: you scanned 30 pages but only need 3, or you need to send someone just the relevant section of a 200-page report without revealing the rest. Splitting is the answer.
The side benefit: a 2-page extract is faster to email, opens instantly on a phone, and forces the reader to focus on what matters instead of scrolling past 197 pages they don't need.
How to split or extract pages from a PDF
Pick the mode that matches your goal, then three clicks:
- 1Open the Split PDF tool and load your PDF (drag-and-drop or browse).
- 2Choose 'Extract pages' for specific pages out of one file, or 'Split into ranges' for multiple files from ranges like 1–3, 4–6.
- 3Type the pages or ranges — say '1, 3, 5–7' — and hit 'Split'. Your file(s) download immediately, processed locally.
Tips for clean splits
PDF page numbering starts at 1 on the first physical page — but the printed page numbers in the document might say something different (front matter, roman numerals, unnumbered cover pages). Use a preview to confirm you're grabbing the right page.
Splitting a scanned PDF doesn't re-encode anything, so each extract stays small and pixel-perfect — only the selected pages are copied.
Want to split by bookmarks or every N pages? Use 'Split into ranges' and type groups like '1–5, 6–10, 11–15'. You'll get one file per group.
Privacy: why split privately?
Here's what bugs me about most online splitters: even if you only want page 4, they make you upload the entire 200-page PDF. Your contracts, your IDs, your medical records — all of it sits on a third-party server just so they can extract one page and hand it back.
PrivacyScanPDF never uploads anything. The split runs as JavaScript in your tab. The only thing on the wire is the page HTML. This is the only architecture where 'private' is a technical fact, not a marketing claim.