The fastest way depends on what you're splitting and what you have installed

If you need to extract pages from a PDF and save them as individual files, your options range from free built-in tools to dedicated software. On Windows, macOS, and Linux, you likely already have what you need. On Windows 10 and 11, the built-in Photos app can open a PDF and export single pages. On macOS, Preview (the default image and PDF viewer) lets you select pages and save them as a new PDF. On any system with a web browser, free online tools like ILovePDF, Smallpdf, or PDF.io can split files without installing anything — though this means uploading your document to someone else's server.

The trade-off is straightforward: built-in tools are private and fast but less flexible. Online tools are flexible but require you to trust the service with your file. Dedicated software like Adobe Acrobat, PDFtk, or Nitro gives you the most control but costs money or takes time to learn.

Key Takeaways

  • Windows Photos and macOS Preview can extract and save individual PDF pages without any additional software.
  • Free online tools like ILovePDF or Smallpdf work in any browser but upload your file to their servers.
  • Command-line tools like PDFtk are free and private but require typing commands instead of clicking buttons.
  • Adobe Acrobat and Nitro PDF offer the most features but require a paid subscription or one-time purchase.
  • Splitting a PDF does not reduce file size — each new file contains the same image quality and data as the original.

Using built-in tools on Windows

Open the PDF in the Photos app (right-click the file, select "Open with," then "Photos"). Once the PDF is open, you will see the pages as thumbnails on the left side. Right-click the page you want to save separately and select "Print." In the print dialog, choose "Print to File" or "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your printer. Name the new file and choose where to save it. Click Print. This creates a new PDF containing only that page.

For multiple pages at once, this method is slow — you repeat the process for each page or group of pages. If you need to extract pages 3, 7, and 12 as separate files, you will print three times. For a two-page extract, it works fine. For a 50-page document where you need 20 specific pages, a command-line tool or online service is faster.

Using Preview on macOS

Open the PDF in Preview (the default app for PDFs on macOS). Click the sidebar icon in the toolbar to show page thumbnails on the left. Select the page or pages you want to extract — hold Shift to select a range, or Cmd+click to select individual pages. Go to File menu, then "Export as PDF." Name the file and choose your save location. Click Save. The new PDF will contain only the pages you selected.

Preview handles multiple selections well. If you need pages 1–5 and pages 15–20 as two separate files, you can select pages 1–5, export, then go back to the original, select pages 15–20, and export again. The original file stays unchanged.

Using free online tools

Services like ILovePDF, Smallpdf, and PDF.io all work the same way: upload your PDF, select which pages to extract, and read the result. Go to the tool's website, click "Select PDF" or "Upload," choose your file, then click the pages you want to keep. Some tools let you drag pages to reorder them. Click "Split" or "Extract," and the tool generates a new PDF that you read to your computer.

The main risk is privacy. Your file goes to their server, stays there while they process it, and is usually deleted after a few hours — but you are trusting their word on that. If your PDF contains sensitive information (medical records, financial statements, legal documents), using an online tool means a third party sees that information. For non-sensitive files like a scanned article or a manual you want to break into chapters, the convenience often outweighs the risk. Read the tool's privacy policy to see how long they keep files and whether they use them for training their own systems.

Using command-line tools for privacy and speed

PDFtk is a free, open-source tool that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It works from the command line (the text-based interface on your computer) rather than through buttons and menus. To extract pages 1 through 5 from a file called "original.pdf" and save them as "pages-1-5.pdf," you type: pdftk original.pdf cat 1-5 output pages-1-5.pdf and press Enter. To extract non-consecutive pages (like pages 2, 5, and 9), you type: pdftk original.pdf cat 2 5 9 output selected-pages.pdf

PDFtk is fast, private (everything happens on your computer), and free. The downside is the learning curve — if you have never used a command line, the first time feels awkward. There are graphical interfaces built on top of PDFtk (like PDFtk GUI) that let you click instead of type, but they are less common and require a separate read. If you split PDFs regularly as part of your work, spending 20 minutes learning PDFtk saves you hours over time.

Using paid software for advanced control

Adobe Acrobat (the full version, not the free Reader) costs about $15 per month as part of Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription. It can split PDFs, extract pages, delete pages, reorder pages, and merge multiple PDFs into one file. Open the PDF, go to Tools, select "Extract Pages," choose which pages you want, and save. Acrobat also lets you split by file size (useful if you need to email a large PDF and your email has a size limit) or by top-level bookmarks (if the PDF has a table of contents built in).

Nitro PDF is a one-time purchase (around $150) or a subscription (around $8 per month). It has similar features to Acrobat — extract pages, delete pages, merge files — and works on Windows. Preview on macOS and PDFtk are free and cover most splitting tasks. Paid software makes sense if you work with PDFs constantly and need features like batch processing (splitting 100 PDFs at once using the same rule) or advanced editing.

What splitting does and does not do

Splitting a PDF does not compress it or reduce file size. If your original PDF is 50 MB and you extract 10 pages, those 10 pages might be 5 MB — but that is because they represent one-fifth of the content, not because splitting made them smaller. If you need to reduce file size to email a document, splitting helps only if you do not need all the pages. If you need all the pages but in a smaller file, you need compression instead, which is a different process.

Splitting also does not remove passwords or encryption. If the PDF is password-protected, you will need the password to open it before you can split it. Some online tools claim to remove passwords, but this is only possible if the password is set to "restrict printing and copying" rather than "restrict opening" — and even then, the legality depends on whether you own the document or have permission from the owner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I split a PDF on my phone or tablet?

Yes, but the process is slower than on a computer. On iPhone or iPad, apps like PDF informed or Adobe Acrobat Reader (free version) let you select pages and export them as a new PDF. On Android, Google Drive can open PDFs and some third-party apps like Xodo or PDF Viewer can extract pages. For anything beyond one or two pages, a computer is faster.

What if the PDF is scanned images instead of text?

Splitting works the same way — the tool does not care whether the pages are text or images. The new PDF will contain the same image quality as the original. If you need to extract text from a scanned PDF, that is a different process called OCR (optical character recognition) and requires different software.

Does splitting a password-protected PDF remove the password?

No. If the PDF requires a password to open, you must enter the password before you can split it. Once you have opened it, the new files you create will not be password-protected unless the original password was set only to restrict printing or copying (not opening). If the password restricts opening, the new files will also be restricted.

Can I split a PDF and keep the bookmarks and links?

Most tools preserve bookmarks and internal links when you extract pages, but online tools sometimes strip them out. If your PDF has a table of contents or clickable links that matter, test with a small section first. Adobe Acrobat and PDFtk both preserve bookmarks reliably.

What is the fastest way to split 50 PDFs using the same rule?

Command-line tools like PDFtk support batch processing — you write one command that applies to multiple files at once. Adobe Acrobat also has batch processing in its Action Wizard feature. For a one-time task, an online tool is simpler. For regular work, learning batch commands saves hours.