Skip to content
Merge & Organize

Crop PDF Online, Free

Crop a PDF online free: drag the crop box on the page, fine-tune each margin with a slider, or trim the white margins automatically — the same box on every page, or a different one per page. Nothing is uploaded.

Crop your pages

Settings appear once you add a PDF.

Ctrl + Enter runs it ·

Bytes sent anywhere: 0 B

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl K
Search all tools
Ctrl V
Paste files to add them
Ctrl Enter
Run the tool
?
Show this list
Esc
Close this list or the search
  • Drag to crop Move the crop box and its handles on the page itself, with a grid to line things up.
  • Exact margins Set each margin with a slider, trim white margins automatically, or crop each page differently.
  • 100% private Your PDF never leaves this device. Text stays text; nothing is turned into a picture.

How to crop a PDF online free

  1. Add your PDF: Drop the PDF. Its first page opens with the crop box on it.

  2. Check the settings: Drag the box or its handles, set each margin with its slider, or press Trim white margins. Turn All pages off to give each page its own box.

  3. Save the result: Press Crop PDF. Text stays text and nothing is turned into a picture.

Why it doesn’t upload

Cropping is a view change, but the whole document still goes wherever you do it. Here, that’s nowhere: the PDF is cropped in your browser.

Check it in your browser’s Network tab

Worth knowing

  • Cropping hides what’s outside the box, like every PDF editor does — it’s still in the file. To remove content for good, redact it.
  • With All pages on, the box sits in the same place on every page, measured as a share of each page, so mixed page sizes are cropped proportionally.
  • Auto-trim looks for anything darker than off-white, so faint scanner shadows can stop it trimming as far as you’d like.

Under the hood

What happens to your file

Cropping sets each page’s CropBox and TrimBox to the area you drew, measured on the page as displayed and converted into the page’s own coordinates, rotation included. The content outside the box is hidden by every viewer and printer, but it is still in the file — to remove content for good, use Redact PDF.

Runs on pdf-libpdf.js

Reference: ISO 32000-2 (PDF 2.0)

Why crop a PDF’s margins?

Wide white margins make a PDF hard to read on a phone or e-reader: the text is tiny until you zoom, and every page needs panning. Trimming the margins makes the content fill the screen. Cropping also cuts scanner shadows, unwanted headers or a single region you want to share.

Every page can be cropped in one pass — automatically to the content, with a margin slider for each edge, or by dragging the crop box on the page — and each page can have its own box. The PDF stays on your device.

Common reasons to crop PDF pages

  • Reading on a phone or Kindle

    Trim white margins so the text is larger without zooming.

  • Scans with dark edges

    Cut off the scanner-lid shadow around each page.

  • Figures and diagrams

    Crop a page down to the chart you want to drop into a presentation.

  • Uneven page sizes

    Make every page the same size for cleaner printing.

  • Removing headers and footers from view

    Hide running headers when reading — knowing they’re still in the file.

Tips for cropping a PDF cleanly

  1. Start with Trim white margins and keep a small border so text isn’t right at the edge.
  2. Faint scanner shadows can stop auto-trim; drag the box or the margin sliders the rest of the way.
  3. Cropping hides content outside the box but it’s still in the file. To remove something for good, redact it.
  4. With All pages on, one box is used on every page — step through the pages with the arrows, or turn it off to give a different layout its own box.
  5. To change the paper size rather than cut it, use Resize PDF Pages.

Questions

How do I crop the margins off a PDF?

Press Trim white margins: the box moves in to the content, with a small border left around it. Check it on a couple of pages with the arrows, then press Crop PDF.

How do I crop just part of a page?

Drag the crop box’s handles around what to keep, or move the margin sliders, and press Crop PDF. With All pages on the same area is kept on every page; turn it off to crop each page differently.

Does cropping reduce PDF file size?

Not much — cropped-off content is hidden, not deleted. To make the file smaller, compress it.

Can I crop scanned PDFs?

Yes. Auto-trim works on scans too, as long as the margins are close to white.

Can I crop a PDF without uploading it or making an account?

Yes. The crop is set by changing each page’s CropBox in your browser; the file is never sent anywhere and there is no account to create.

Read more about this

More merge & organize tools

All merge & organize tools