Map the document before you split
Open the PDF in your reader, switch to thumbnail view, and write down where each part begins. For a scanned bundle of letters, that might look like:
- Letter from bank: file pages 1–3
- Insurance renewal: pages 4–9
- Council tax bill: pages 10–11
That list turns directly into ranges for Split PDF: 1-3, 4-9, 10-11 — three files in one step.
Printed page numbers vs file positions
This is the most common reason a split "goes wrong". PDF tools count pages by position in the file. Documents often print their own numbering that doesn't start on the first page:
| File position | Printed on the page |
|---|---|
| 1 | (cover, no number) |
| 2–4 | i, ii, iii (contents, preface) |
| 5 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 |
To split off "chapter 1, pages 1–20" here, you'd enter 5-24. Your PDF reader's page counter (e.g. "5 / 180") shows the file position — use that number, not the one printed in the footer.
Choosing between ranges and single pages
- Ranges suit documents with sections of different lengths — the usual case.
- Every page separately suits files where each page is independent: a batch of scanned receipts, certificates, or one-page invoices. It's quick, but with long files you'll get a lot of files to rename.
- One section only? That's extraction, not splitting — see the extraction guide.
Splitting to fit an upload limit
If a portal accepts several files but caps each one, splitting keeps full quality where compression would reduce it. Because pages vary in weight, don't just halve the page count:
- Check the size per page roughly (file size ÷ pages) and note any pages that are photos or colour scans — they're the heavy ones.
- Split into ranges you estimate will fit, e.g.
1-40, 41-80. - Check each part's size after downloading. If one is still over, split that part again or compress just that part.
- Name the parts in order —
report-part-1-of-2.pdf— so the recipient reassembles them correctly.
After splitting
The split tool names files after their ranges (split-4-9.pdf). Rename them to describe their content before filing or sending. Keep the original bundle until you've checked every part opens and contains the right pages.