How to Delete Pages From a PDF on Any Device

To delete pages from a PDF, open Delete Pages, tap the thumbnails of the pages you don't want or type their numbers, and download the result. The remaining pages keep their original quality, your original file isn't changed, and the whole job happens in your browser, so it works the same way on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.

Below are the steps, the quickest way to pick pages in long documents, and a few checks worth doing before you send the trimmed file.

How to delete pages from a PDF

Open Delete Pages and drop in your PDF, or tap to choose it.
Wait for the thumbnails. Every page appears in a grid, so you can see exactly what you're removing.
Mark the pages to delete. Tap each thumbnail, or type page numbers in the Pages to delete box, such as 2, 5-7, 12.
Check the count. The tool shows how many pages are selected, which is an easy way to catch a typo in a range.
Delete and download. A PDF without those pages downloads to your device.

Delete Pages is one of the free tools: use it within the daily allowance with no account, and no watermark is added.

Typing page numbers in long documents

Tapping thumbnails is quickest for a handful of pages. In long documents, typing is faster and more precise:

Separate single pages with commas, such as 1, 4, 9.
Use a hyphen for a range, such as 10-24.
Mix the two, such as 1, 3, 10-24, 40.

Page numbers here mean the position in the file, starting at 1, not the numbers printed on the pages. If a report has a cover and a contents page before its printed page 1, the file's third page might carry the number 1 at the bottom. Glance at the thumbnails whenever the two could differ.

Deleting pages on a phone

On an iPhone or an Android phone, open the tool in Safari or Chrome and tap the drop area to choose a PDF from Files or Downloads. If the PDF arrived as an email attachment, save it to your phone first. The thumbnail grid works well on a small screen: tap to select a page, tap again to deselect it.

Long documents take a little longer to preview on older phones, because the pages are rendered on the device itself. For a very long file, a computer will be quicker.

When another tool is a better fit

Delete Pages is the right choice when you want to keep most of a document. A few related jobs have their own tools:

Keeping only a few pages. If you need pages 3, 7 and 12 out of 80, picking those three is faster than deleting 77. Extract PDF Pages saves just the pages you choose as a separate PDF.
Removing blank pages from scans. Duplex scanners often leave empty backs scattered through a document. Remove Blank Pages finds them automatically and lets you review them before anything is removed.
Hiding part of a page. Deleting removes whole pages. If you want to keep a page but hide an account number or a name on it, that's redaction. Redact PDF, available on Pro, removes the content under the areas you mark.

Check before you send

Taking pages out can have knock-on effects elsewhere in the document:

Cross-references. If the text says "see page 14", that page may have moved or disappeared.
Printed page numbers. Numbers already printed on the pages don't update. If the trimmed file needs clean numbering, add page numbers after deleting, not before.
Contents pages and bookmarks. A contents page still lists the old page numbers. Update it in the source document if the file will be read closely.
Double-sided printing. Removing a single page shifts every later page from front to back. If the layout matters, check the order before printing.

Delete pages to shrink a file

Removing pages is also one of the quickest ways to make a PDF smaller. When a scan is too large for an email or an upload form, the pages nobody needs, such as blank backs, instruction sheets and duplicate scans, are pure weight. Delete them first, then compress the trimmed file if it's still over the limit.

You'll usually get a better-looking result this way than by compressing the whole document harder, because the pages you keep don't have to give up as much image quality to make room for pages that shouldn't be there at all.

Is the deleted page really gone?

Yes. The downloaded PDF is rebuilt from only the pages you kept, so the deleted pages aren't hidden or tucked away inside the file. That makes deleting a reliable way to leave out a page you don't want to share, as long as you send the trimmed copy and not the original.

It's worth giving the trimmed copy a distinct file name, such as adding the word excerpt or the recipient's name. That makes it much harder to attach the full original by mistake when both files sit in the same downloads folder.

FAQ

Can I delete several pages at once?

Yes. Tap as many thumbnails as you like, or type a list such as 1, 4-6, 10, and they're all removed in one step.

Does deleting pages reduce quality?

No. The pages you keep are copied into the output unchanged, so text stays selectable and images keep their resolution.

Can I undo a deletion?

Your original file is never modified, so you can always start again from it. Keep the original until you've checked the trimmed copy.

Can I delete pages from a password-protected PDF?

Remove the password first with Unlock PDF if you know it, then delete pages from the unlocked copy.