Split a PDF and separate its pages

Sometimes you need to separate PDF pages because only part of a document should go to someone: page 3 of a bank statement, the signed page of a contract, one chapter of a scanned book. This tool does it without sending the file anywhere.

How it works

The tool reads the PDF on your device and copies the pages you choose into new files. It has two modes.

Extract pages builds one new PDF from a list you type. The rules are simple:

• Separate items with commas: 1, 3, 9.
• Use a hyphen for a range: 4-7.
• Leave the end open to run to the last page: 10-. Leave the start open to begin at page 1: -3.
• Pages come out in the order you type them. 6, 1-3 puts page 6 first, which is a quick way to move a page to the front.
• Repeats are ignored, so 1-3, 2 gives you pages 1, 2 and 3 once each.

The download is named after your file with -pages added, like statement-pages.pdf.

Every page as its own PDF splits the whole document into single-page PDFs and bundles them in one ZIP, so you don’t get 40 separate downloads. Files are numbered with leading zeros (statement-01.pdf to statement-40.pdf) so they sort correctly.

In both modes the pages are copied as they are. Text stays selectable, and scanned pages keep their resolution.

Privacy

The split happens in your browser tab. The PDF is opened in memory, the new files are made there and handed to you as downloads, and nothing is uploaded.

That’s the point when the page you’re pulling out has an account number or a signature on it. When you close the tab, the file is gone from the page.

Limits

• One PDF at a time, up to 50 MB and 100 pages.
• Password-protected PDFs aren’t supported. Remove the password in the app that set it, then split the unlocked copy.
• Bookmarks don’t carry over. The new files contain the pages and what’s printed on them, but not the clickable outline from the original’s sidebar.
• Page numbers mean position in the file. If the document’s printed page numbers start at “iii” or skip a cover, count from the first page of the file.

Tips

Check the page count first. After you open the file, the tool shows how many pages it has. If your range goes past the end, it tells you which part is out of bounds.

Remove pages by keeping the rest. There’s no delete button, because you don’t need one: type the ranges you want to keep. 1-4, 6- removes page 5.

Splitting to send, then sending too much? If the extracted pages are still too heavy for an email, the compress PDF tool can shrink scanned pages.

Put pieces back together. The merge PDF tool joins separate PDFs into one, in whatever order you set.

On your phone

Scanpaper splits pages for free on iPhone and Android: select pages in a document’s pages grid and move them into a new document, or share just those pages without making a new file. The same grid reorders and deletes pages, and it works on PDFs you bring in from the Files app too. The free tier holds up to 3 documents, and its PDFs carry a small “Scanned with Scanpaper” line in one corner.