Redact PDFs for real: nothing left under the black boxes
- Free: 5 documents a day, up to 3 redacted pages each, true redaction
- $4.95 once: Any length, one-click redact-all, batch folders, scrub hidden data
Vow PDF Compressor
PDF compressor for Windows
Make any PDF fit the upload limit. To the byte. On your PC.
Job portal says 2 MB? Visa form says 500 KB? Pick the limit and Vow PDF Compressor finds the best quality that fits, keeps text and drawings crisp, and shows every page before and after. No uploads, no watermarks, no subscription.
- No ads
- No malware
- No account
- Light & dark theme
- 3 PDFs a day with Light, Balanced and Strong; try every setting free
No ads. Ever.No pop-ups, no banners, no "offers".
No malware or bundlewareThe installer installs one thing: this app.
No account, no uploadIt works on your PC, and your files stay there.
Free daily limits, just $4.95 unlimitedNo subscription. No trial that runs out.
The problem
"File too large" is no reason to upload your passport
When a form rejects your PDF, the usual fixes are websites that take a copy of it, or tools that turn your text into a blurry picture.
Upload your ID to shrink it
Online compressors want your passport scan, payslip or medical letter on their servers before they hand back a smaller copy.
Guess, retry, guess again
Low, medium or high: none of them tell you whether the result will be under the 2 MB the form demands.
Blurry text, unreadable fine print
Squashing every page into a low-quality picture makes text fuzzy and small print impossible to read.
Watermarks and daily caps
Free tiers stamp the pages, limit the file size or stop after a couple of files, then push an upgrade.
A subscription for one upload
The proper PDF optimiser usually sits inside a monthly plan, for a job you need a few times a year.
Passwords and forms stripped
Some tools quietly drop the password, flatten form fields or lose the bookmarks along the way.
Vow PDF Compressor fixes all of it.
How it works
Drop. Pick a size. Upload.
Choose how small, or the exact limit you were given, and get a sharp PDF that fits.
- 01
Drop your PDFs
Drag PDFs or whole folders onto the window, or right-click a PDF in Explorer and choose Compress with Vow.
Drop PDFs, pick a size, and press Compress - 02
Pick how small
Balanced is ready to go. Or choose an exact size: 200 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 5 MB, 10 MB or any limit you type.
Drop PDFs, pick a size, and press Compress - 03
Compare, then keep it
See every page before and after, side by side. The smaller copy is saved next to the original, which is never touched.
...exact sizes, sharp text and a before-and-after check
Features
Smaller PDFs that still look right
For job applications, visa and university portals, tax paperwork and email attachments.
Exact target size
Type the limit and it finds the best picture quality that fits, then checks the written file against that limit.
Three simple presets
Light (220 dpi), Balanced (150 dpi) and Strong (110 dpi), or your own resolution and JPEG quality.
Text stays sharp
Text, fonts and vector drawings are kept letter for letter. Only pictures shown sharper than needed are resampled.
Before and after, page by page
Compare each page of the original and the compressed copy side by side, at fit, 100%, 200% or 300%.
Where the space went
Bytes by pictures, fonts, page content and metadata, before and after, plus a report on every picture.
Scans shrink the most
Gray for every picture, or crisp black and white stored as CCITT G4: a 300 dpi page of text in 7 to 40 KB.
Lossless clean-up
Duplicate fonts and pictures merged, unused objects dropped, streams recompressed and old saved revisions removed.
Passwords kept
Protected PDFs open with their password, and the smaller copy is protected again with the same passwords and permissions.
Never bigger
If nothing can be gained, the original is kept and nothing is written. Damaged PDFs are repaired as they are read.
Whole folders at once
Compress many PDFs and folders with subfolders in one go, each using every processor core, with Unlimited.
Light & dark theme
Easy on the eyes, day or night.
PDF Compressor comes with a crisp light theme and a calm dark theme. Switch with one click, or let it follow your Windows setting by itself. It remembers your choice.
- LightClear and bright for daytime and busy offices
- DarkGentle on tired eyes late at night
- Follow WindowsChanges by itself when your PC does
Screenshots
See Vow PDF Compressor in action
Real screenshots of the real app, in both of its themes: 5 light, 5 dark. Click any picture to see it full size.
Light theme
Dark theme
Who it's for
Who needs smaller PDFs
Job applications
Get your CV, cover letter and certificates under a job portal's size limit.
Visa and ID forms
Shrink passport and ID scans to the 200 KB or 500 KB a government form asks for.
University submissions
Fit assignments, transcripts and portfolios under strict upload caps.
Email attachments
Send photo-heavy reports and brochures that would otherwise bounce.
Tax and accounts
Keep scanned receipts and statements small enough to archive and send.
Office scanners
Turn bulky 300 dpi scans into compact black-and-white files that still read clearly.
Compare
Vow PDF Compressor vs the usual options
What typical online compressors and free PDF shrinkers give you, side by side.
| Feature | Vow PDF Compressor | Online compressors & free shrinkers |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free every day, or $4.95 once | Monthly plans or per-file limits |
| Your PDF is uploaded | Never: 100% on your PC | Yes, for online compressors |
| Exact target size | Any size, to the byte | Rare: usually low, medium or high |
| Before / after of every page | Yes, free | Rarely |
| Text and drawings kept sharp | Yes, letter for letter | Not always |
| Passwords, forms and bookmarks kept | Yes | Not always |
| Watermarks or daily caps | No watermarks, ever | Common on free tiers |
| Works without internet | Yes | No, for online tools |
"Typical" describes what we found across the most-downloaded alternatives when we built PDF Compressor. Your mileage with any one of them may vary; ours won't.
Pricing
Free every day. Just $4.95 once for the lot.
That is not a typo. Software this powerful usually means a monthly subscription; PDF Compressor is $4.95, once, for life: it's almost a giveaway. Use it free for as long as you like, and unlock Unlimited only if you need more.
Free
$0forever
3 PDFs a day with Light, Balanced and Strong; try every setting free.
- 3 PDFs a day (resets at midnight)
- Light, Balanced and Strong presets
- Every clean-up option; forms and links kept
- Passwords kept on protected PDFs
- Try exact sizes and every setting before buying
- No watermarks, no sign-up, nothing uploaded
Best valueUnlimited
$4.95USD, once. Yours for life.
Almost a giveaway. Less than a coffee for software this powerful: no subscription, no renewals, yours for life on 2 PCs.
Exact target sizes, any number of PDFs, folders, full quality control.
- Exact target sizes, to the byte
- Any number of PDFs, whole folders at once
- Your own resolution and JPEG quality
- Gray, and black & white for scans
- Pages as pictures for text-heavy PDFs
- One payment, yours for life on 2 PCs
How unlocking works
- 1Use it free first Install Vow PDF Compressor and use it on your own files. No card, no account, no time limit.
- 2Click "Unlimited" in the app Pay $4.95 USD once by card, securely through Stripe in your browser.
- 3It unlocks itself Within seconds, for life, on up to 2 of your PCs. Your license key is emailed to you, and every future update is included.
Payments by Stripe: we never see or store your card. Questions? Ask a real person.
Clean software
Safe to install. Nothing else comes with it.
Most "free" Windows downloads pay for themselves with ads, bundled extras or your data. Vow PDF Compressor doesn't need to: it's paid for honestly, once, by the people who find it useful.
Download PDF Compressor free- No ads, toolbars or "offers"The installer installs one thing: Vow PDF Compressor. No pre-ticked boxes to watch out for.
- No administrator rights neededIt installs just for you, in your own user folder, and leaves the rest of Windows alone.
- Nothing running in the backgroundNo startup programs, no tray nags, no services. When you close it, it's closed.
- Everything includedAll it needs is inside the installer, so you never have to fetch a "required component" from somewhere else.
- Uninstalls cleanlyOne click in Windows Settings > Apps. Your own files are never touched.
- A real company behind itMade, published and supported by XTO Pty Ltd, an Australian company, with real people answering every message.
Step-by-step guide
How to compress a PDF to under 2 MB on Windows
Make a PDF small enough for any upload form in about a minute, without sending it anywhere.
Step 1: get it freeInstall Vow PDF Compressor free
Download it from this page and run the installer. There is no account and no administrator prompt, and it can add Compress with Vow to Explorer's right-click menu for PDFs.
Add the PDF
Drop it on the window, press Ctrl+O, or right-click it in Explorer. A password-protected PDF asks for its password right in its row.
Choose how small
Leave Balanced for everyday use. For an upload form, open Exact size and click the limit it gives, such as 2 MB, or type any size in KB or MB.
Press Compress
Press Compress or Ctrl+Enter. Each row shows before and after, the saving and a tick when it fits the limit. The eye button opens the page-by-page comparison.
Upload the smaller copy
It is saved next to the original as name-compressed.pdf, and your original is never touched. Open it, show it in its folder, or drag it straight into the upload page.
Technical details
PDF Compressor at a glance
- Works on
- Windows 10 (1809+) and Windows 11, 64-bit
- Presets
- Light 220 dpi, Balanced 150 dpi, Strong 110 dpi
- Exact sizes
- 200 KB to 10 MB in one click, or any size in KB or MB
- Opens
- PDF, incl. protected (RC4, AES-128, AES-256) and damaged files
- Keeps
- Text, fonts, links, bookmarks, forms, layers, PDF/A
- Internet
- Not needed: works fully offline
- Install
- Per-user, no administrator rights, no account
- Languages
- English
- Theme
- Light, dark or follow Windows: one click to switch
- Version
- 1.0.0, released 7 November 2026
- Publisher
- XTO Pty Ltd (Australia)
FAQ
Questions about PDF Compressor
Is Vow PDF Compressor free?
Yes. You can compress 3 PDFs a day for free with the Light, Balanced and Strong presets and every clean-up option, and the same PDF again that day counts once. Exact sizes, your own picture settings, gray and black and white can all be tried free: the result is shown before anything is asked. Unlimited, a one-time $4.95 USD payment, saves those too, with any number of PDFs and whole folders.
Does it upload my PDFs?
No. Compression runs entirely on your own PC, with no account and no cloud. Your passport scans, payslips and contracts never leave your computer, and it works with no internet connection.
Can it compress a PDF to exactly 2 MB, 500 KB or 200 KB?
Yes, with Unlimited. Type or click the limit and it keeps the best quality that fits, then checks the saved file. By default 1 MB means 1,000,000 bytes, the way upload pages count, so a file under 2 MB here is under it everywhere. If a PDF can't get that small, it shows the smallest possible size and offers pages as pictures.
Will my text get blurry?
No. Text, fonts and vector drawings are kept exactly; only pictures shown sharper than the chosen resolution are resampled, with an area-averaging method that avoids jagged edges. You can compare every page before and after at up to 300% before you keep it.
How small do scanned PDFs get?
Scans shrink the most. Gray turns colour scans into shades of grey, and black and white stores text pages as CCITT G4 with an adaptive threshold, so uneven paper and shadows don't turn black: a 300 dpi page of text takes about 7 to 40 KB.
Are passwords, forms and bookmarks kept?
Yes. Links, bookmarks, form fields, annotations, layers and page labels are kept. A protected PDF is protected again with the same passwords and permissions, unless you choose otherwise. Removing attachments, comments, bookmarks or document properties is optional.
How is it different from Adobe Acrobat, Smallpdf or iLovePDF?
Acrobat's PDF Optimizer needs a subscription; here Unlimited is $4.95 once. Smallpdf and iLovePDF work online, so your PDF is uploaded, and they offer a few strength levels rather than an exact size. Vow PDF Compressor compresses to an exact size on your PC and shows a free before and after of every page.
Is it safe to install?
Yes. It is made and published by XTO Pty Ltd, an Australian company. There are no ads, no bundled software and no account, it needs no administrator rights, it never changes your default PDF app, and it uninstalls cleanly from Windows Settings.
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Done searching. Get PDF Compressor.
Shrink any PDF to the exact size an upload form asks for. Free to use every day, $4.95 once if you ever want Unlimited.
- No ads
- No malware
- No account
- No subscription