How to Split a PDF Into Separate Pages
Extract specific pages or split a PDF into individual files right in your browser. Free PDF split tool with page range selection and no upload to any server.
When to Split a PDF
You have a 50-page report and only need pages 12 through 15 for a meeting. A bank statement PDF contains 12 months of transactions and your expense report requires individual monthly pages. A client sent 10 invoices bundled into one PDF and your accounting system expects separate files. A scanned book chapter needs to be extracted from the full book PDF.
Splitting extracts specified pages or page ranges from a PDF into new, standalone files. Each split result is a valid PDF containing only the pages you asked for.
Two Ways to Split
The PDF Merge/Split Tool supports two split modes:
Extract Pages
Select specific pages or ranges. For example, 1, 3, 5-8 extracts pages 1, 3,
and 5 through 8 into a single output PDF. This mode produces one file with
exactly the pages you specified, in the order you listed them.
Use this when you need to pull out a chapter, a section, or a custom selection of non-consecutive pages.
Split Every N Pages
Creates a new PDF for every N pages of the source. A 20-page PDF split every 5 pages produces 4 files, each with 5 pages. A 20-page PDF split every 1 page produces 20 individual single-page PDFs.
Use this when you need to break a document into equal-sized chunks or extract every page as its own file. Common split intervals:
- N=1: every page becomes its own PDF. Use for combined statements, scanned multi-page forms, or batch-processed documents.
- N=2: pairs of pages. Useful for two-page-per-sheet scans or slide handouts.
- N=10: chapters or sections of roughly equal length.
All processing runs locally in your browser. No files are uploaded anywhere.
How Page Ranges Work
Page numbers are 1-indexed: page 1 is the first page of the PDF. Ranges use
hyphens: 5-10 includes pages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Separate multiple ranges
with commas: 1-3, 7, 10-12. Spaces are ignored, so 1,3,5 and 1, 3, 5
work the same way.
The tool extracts pages in the order you specify. Entering 10, 5, 1 produces
a 3-page PDF with the original page 10 first, then page 5, then page 1.
Valid Range Examples
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
5 | Page 5 only |
1-10 | Pages 1 through 10 |
1-3, 7, 10-12 | Pages 1-3, page 7, pages 10-12 |
10, 9, 8 | Pages 10, 9, 8 in that order |
Errors to Avoid
0or negative numbers: page numbers start at 1.- Range ending before it starts:
10-5is invalid. Write5-10. - Page numbers larger than the PDF's page count: the tool will warn you.
What Gets Preserved
Each extracted page keeps its original content, dimensions, and resolution. Text remains selectable and searchable. Hyperlinks within the extracted pages are preserved. Vector graphics stay sharp. Images stay at their embedded resolution.
What Gets Changed or Lost
- Digital signatures: a signed PDF split into individual pages will have invalid signatures on the split pages. The content of each extracted page differs from the signed original document.
- Interactive form fields: these generally survive splitting if the page they are on is included in the output. However, form logic that references fields across pages will break.
- Document-level metadata: each split file gets new metadata. Original author, title, and subject from the source PDF are not copied automatically.
Before You Split
- Open the source PDF and verify the page count and content. The page number shown in your PDF viewer is the same number to enter in the split tool.
- Note which pages you need. Write down the ranges before opening the tool.
- Check the size of the source PDF. Split files will be roughly proportional in size. A 10 MB, 100-page PDF split into individual pages produces files averaging about 100 KB each. Pages with heavy images will be larger.
Command-Line Alternative
pdftk and qpdf can split PDFs from the terminal:
# Extract pages 5-10 with qpdf
qpdf source.pdf --pages source.pdf 5-10 -- split-output.pdf
# Split into individual pages with pdftk
pdftk source.pdf burst
Install qpdf with sudo apt install qpdf (Linux) or brew install qpdf
(macOS).
Combining Split and Merge
The split and merge functions work together. Split a large PDF into the sections you need, reorder them, then merge them back into a new document. This gives you full control over which pages appear and in what order, without editing the original PDFs.
Try it yourself: open the PDF Merge/Split Tool. Upload a multi-page PDF. Switch to the Split tab. Enter
1-2as the range and download the result. Open it in your PDF viewer and confirm it contains only the first two pages. Then try extracting non-consecutive pages with a range like1, 3, 5. Verify all three pages are present in the output.