How to Split a PDF or Extract Just the Pages You Need

Split or extract: which one?

• Use Split PDF when you want several files, for example one per chapter.
• Use Extract Pages when you want a single new file with only chosen pages.
• Use Remove Pages when it is easier to say which pages to delete.

How to split a PDF

• Open Split PDF and add your file.
• Choose to split by page ranges, or to split every page.
• For ranges, type them like 1-3, 5, 8-10.
• Press Split. If you get more than one file they are packed in one ZIP.

How to extract pages

• Open Extract Pages and add your file.
• Type the pages you want, like 2, 4-6, 9.
• Download the new PDF that contains only those pages.

Page numbers explained

Page numbers count from 1 at the first page of the file, not from the number printed on the page. A document with a cover and an introduction may show page 1 on the third sheet, but the tool counts the cover as page 1.

Good habits

• Your original file is not changed, so you can try again.
• Open the result and check the first and last page.
• To put the pieces together again later, use Merge PDF.

Common mistakes with page ranges

• Counting the printed page number instead of the position in the file.
• Typing a range like 5-3 instead of 3-5.
• Leaving out commas between separate pages or ranges.
• Forgetting that splitting creates several files, which come in one ZIP.

Examples of ranges

• 1-3, 5, 8-10 means pages 1 to 3, page 5, and pages 8 to 10.
• 2 means only the second page.
• 7-12 means everything from page 7 to page 12.

Split or extract: what is the difference?

Splitting breaks one PDF into several smaller files, for example every 10 pages or at chosen places. Extracting pulls out only the pages you pick, such as pages 3, 7 and 12 to 15, and puts them into one new file. Use splitting when you need many pieces. Use extraction when you need one selection.

Common reasons to do it

People split PDFs to send one chapter of a book, to share only the signature page of a contract, to pass on a single invoice from a monthly bundle, or to get under an email size limit. Extracting is also a privacy tool: instead of sharing a full document, you share only the pages the receiver needs.

• Send one section instead of the entire file.
• Separate a scan of several documents into individual files.
• Remove pages by extracting everything except them.
• Divide a big file so each part fits a size limit.

Tips for accurate page numbers

The page number printed on the paper may not match the position in the PDF, because covers and contents pages are often unnumbered. Always use the position shown by your PDF viewer. Open the result after splitting and confirm the first and last page of each part before you send it.

Frequently asked questions