What tools or software can split PDF documents?
You can split a PDF for free without installing anything: every modern browser and operating system can save selected pages as a new PDF. Below are step-by-step instructions for each method, from the quickest to the most powerful.
1. Split a PDF in Google Chrome (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Open the PDF in Chrome (drag the file into a browser window).
- Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
- Set Destination to Save as PDF.
- Under Pages, choose Custom and type the range, e.g.
1-5. - Click Save. Repeat for every part you need.
2. Split a PDF on Windows with Microsoft Print to PDF
- Open the PDF in Microsoft Edge or any PDF reader and press Ctrl+P.
- Choose the printer Microsoft Print to PDF.
- Enter the page range you want to keep.
- Click Print and choose where to save the new file.
3. Split a PDF on Mac with Preview
- Open the PDF in Preview and choose View > Thumbnails.
- Select the pages you want (Cmd-click to select several).
- Drag the selected thumbnails to the desktop – Preview creates a new PDF with just those pages.
Alternatively use File > Print, set the page range and choose PDF > Save as PDF.
4. Split a PDF with Adobe Acrobat
Adobe's online Split PDF tool lets you upload a file, sign in and place divider lines between pages to create several files at once. In Acrobat Pro you can also split a document by page count, file size or top-level bookmarks.
5. Online PDF splitters (Smallpdf, iLovePDF)
Online tools such as Smallpdf and iLovePDF split a PDF by page ranges or extract every page into a separate file in a few clicks. They are convenient for everyday documents, but the file is uploaded to a third-party server – avoid them for contracts, financial or personal documents.
6. Split PDFs from the command line (qpdf, pdftk)
For many files or automation, free command-line tools are fastest:
qpdf input.pdf --pages . 1-5 -- part1.pdf– save pages 1-5 as a new fileqpdf --split-pages input.pdf page.pdf– save every page as a separate filepdftk input.pdf cat 1-5 output part1.pdf– the same with pdftk
Which method should you use?
| Situation | Best method |
|---|---|
| Extract a few pages, any computer | Chrome: Print > Save as PDF |
| Mac user | Preview thumbnails |
| Split into many parts at once | Adobe Acrobat or iLovePDF |
| Confidential document | An offline method (Chrome, Preview, Windows) – nothing is uploaded |
| Hundreds of files | qpdf or pdftk |
Sharing the split parts securely
Once a long document is split, the parts are often sent to different people. With HelpRange you can share each PDF as a protected link, block downloading and forwarding, and see who opened which pages.