Split PDF
Separate one PDF into one-page PDF files. A one-page source downloads as a PDF; a multi-page source is packaged as a ZIP containing one PDF for each original page.
What this splitter produces
This tool performs a complete page-by-page split. It does not ask for ranges or extraction rules: every page is copied into a newly created one-page PDF.
The output preserves the visible page content copied by pdf-lib, but each page becomes a separate document. Document-wide navigation, signatures, attachments, form relationships, and metadata should not be expected to behave like the original.
How to use this tool
- Choose a PDF: Select the source document and wait for the page count and first-page preview.
- Unlock if requested: For a detected protected PDF, enter its password so the local workflow can prepare a processable copy.
- Split every page: Start the operation. The browser creates a new PDF for each source page and updates progress.
- Save the output: A multi-page result downloads as a ZIP. Keep the source until the individual files have been checked.
Input and output
Input
- One PDF file; the shared PDF interface can request a password for a detected protected file
Output
- One one-page PDF for a one-page input
- A ZIP containing page-1 through page-N PDFs for a multi-page input
How one-page PDFs are created
Load the source
pdf-lib reads the PDF and obtains its page count.
Create one document per page
For each source index, a new PDF is created and that single page is copied into it.
Package multiple results
When more than one page is produced, JSZip creates a ZIP in browser memory for one download.
Separating a three-page scan
- Scenario
- A three-page scan contains three unrelated receipts.
- Action
- Select the PDF and run Split PDF.
- Input
- receipts.pdf with three pages
- Expected result
- The browser creates three one-page PDFs and downloads them in receipts.zip. It does not identify receipt boundaries beyond the existing page breaks.
PDF splitting limitations
- Every page is split; there is no range, interval, or “extract selected pages” option.
- Pages are copied, not OCR-processed or converted to images.
- Document-wide bookmarks, attachments, forms, signatures, metadata, and tagged structure may be lost or become irrelevant in separate files.
- Large page counts can create many in-memory PDFs and a large ZIP, stressing browser memory.
- Malformed PDFs or protection modes unsupported by the local unlock workflow can fail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I split only pages 4–8?
This tool splits every page. Use Extract PDF Pages when you need a chosen set rather than one file per page.
Does splitting change the visible page?
The implementation copies the source page into a new PDF rather than rasterizing it, but document-level features outside the page may not transfer.
Why did I receive a ZIP?
Multiple one-page PDFs are bundled into one ZIP to avoid triggering a separate browser download for every page.