The NDA Panic: Merging 8 Confidential Legal Docs Without Touching a Server
When a contract forbids third-party uploads but the files have to arrive as one document, an offline PDF merger finishes the job inside your own browser tab.
Split PDF: Extract Pages & Page Ranges Free Online
Split a PDF by custom page ranges, extract each page, or pull out grouped chunks. Visual page thumbnails, instant download, 100% in your browser.
What splitting does, and when you need it
Splitting takes one PDF and gives you back fewer pages per file. There are three shapes of the same job: pull out a range ("pages 3 to 7"), pull out every page as its own file, or cut a long document into fixed chunks. A scanned bundle that contains four separate certificates, a 90-page handbook you only need chapter 4 from, and a report where page 12 has to be emailed on its own are all the same problem.
Ranges are entered by hand, in the form your reader already uses: 1-3, then 7, then 12-14. The tool shows thumbnails of the pages, so a range is chosen by looking at the pages rather than by counting them.
How to split a PDF
- Open the PDF. The page thumbnails load first, and they are what you pick from.
- Write the range or ranges you want, for example 1-5, 9, 12-14. Each range becomes its own file.
- Or choose to extract every page separately, which produces one file per page.
- Check the summary: how many files, and how many pages in each. A range that reads backwards gives an empty file, and this is where you see it.
- Download the results. Each file is named after the source document and its range.
A worked example
A 48-page committee report has six annexes at the back, and only annex C is needed. The annex starts on page 39 and runs to page 44. Splitting with the range 39-44 gives a six-page file that opens on the annex heading, and the original stays untouched on disk.
The same document, split into every page, gives 48 files. That is the right move for a scanned stack of receipts where each page is a separate item, and the wrong move for a report, because 48 files are harder to file than one.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Counting from zero. Page 39 means the 39th page the PDF shows, which is the 39th thumbnail.
Assuming the printed page number is the PDF page number. A report with a title page and a two-page contents shows "page 36" on what is PDF page 39.
Splitting a password-protected file without unlocking it first. The pages cannot be copied out of a document the tool cannot open.
Deleting the original before checking the output. Splitting is a copy. Until you have opened the new file, the old one is the only certain copy you have.
Where your files go
They stay on your device. The split runs inside this tab, so an unreleased report or a signed contract is not uploaded, not processed on a server, and not kept anywhere after you close the page.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I split a PDF by page range?
Type the ranges you want in the Pages box, for example 1-3, 5, 8-10. Every comma-separated group becomes one numbered PDF, each range is validated against the real page count before anything runs, and the results download together.
Can I extract every page as its own file?
Yes. Switch to the one-file-per-page mode and every page is exported separately, numbered in document order, which is the fastest way to turn a scanned chapter into single-page files for a portal.
Does splitting a PDF reduce its quality?
No. Pages are copied exactly as they are, with no re-compression and no rasterising, so text stays selectable and screenshots keep their resolution. The whole operation runs inside your browser tab; the file is never uploaded, so nothing is stored or logged.
Can I split a PDF into two equal halves?
Yes. For a 40-page file, use the ranges 1-20 and 21-40. Each half is a separate file, and the page numbering in the original is preserved inside each half.
Does splitting reduce quality?
No. Pages are copied from the source document, so text and images are byte-for-byte what they were. What you lose is the document around them: bookmarks and form fields that spanned the whole file.
Can I extract a single page from a large PDF?
Enter that page number as the only range. On a 900-page file the thumbnails take a moment to render, but the extraction itself is fast because only the pages you asked for are written out.
What happens to the pages I did not select?
They are not in the output file at all. The original document still has them; the split files contain only the ranges you named.
Do split files keep their links and text?
Selectable text stays selectable, and links inside a copied page keep working. A hyperlink that pointed at another page in the old document now points at a page that is not in the new file.