Delete Unwanted Pages From a PDF

Every long PDF has pages you do not want to send. The scan that came out with a blank back of every sheet. The contract with a fax cover page stuck on the front. The report with an internal appendix that the client should never see. You can fix this by printing only the pages you want, or by opening the file in an editor you do not remember paying for, but there is a faster way that leaves the original alone.

The short version: drop the PDF into Remove PDF Pages, click the pages you want gone or type them as a list such as 2, 5-7, press Remove pages, check the preview, and download the shorter file.

How the tool works

The tool reads the PDF in your browser, so the file is not uploaded to a server. It shows a thumbnail of every page, and you choose pages to remove in either of two ways. You can click a thumbnail, and it gets a red cross. Or you can type the page numbers in the box labelled Pages to remove. The two stay in step: type 2, 5-7 and pages 2, 5, 6 and 7 are crossed out, click page 9 and the number 9 is added to the box.

Three small buttons above the thumbnails save time on big files. Odd pages selects every odd-numbered page, Even pages selects every even-numbered page, and Clear starts over. A live line under the box tells you the result before you commit, for example "4 pages will be removed; 8 stay".

The output is a new PDF in the original order. Bookmarks that point at the pages you keep and form fields on those pages are kept. Your original file is never changed, so if you remove the wrong pages you simply start again. The new file is named after the original with "-removed-pages" added, so report.pdf gives report-removed-pages.pdf.

How to type the pages

The box is forgiving, and it explains itself when it cannot read what you typed. Here is what it does with a 12-page file, from the tool's own input rules:

• 2, 5-7 removes pages 2, 5, 6 and 7, and leaves 8 pages: 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
• A backwards range such as 5-3 is read as 3-5, which removes pages 3, 4 and 5.
• An open range such as 10- removes page 10 to the end, so pages 10, 11 and 12.
• A range that runs past the end, such as 1-200, is trimmed to the last page. The tool says "Only 12 pages in this file, so the range stops at page 12." Be careful with that one, because 1-200 on a 12-page file selects everything.
• A semicolon works like a comma, so 3;4 removes pages 3 and 4, and a typographic dash in a range such as 2–4 is understood as an ordinary hyphen.
• A page number outside the file, such as 0 or 13, gives a clear message: "Page 13 is outside this PDF's 12 pages."
• Text that is not a number gives "abc is not a page number or a range. Use a list such as 2, 5-7." If several entries are wrong, the message names all of them at once, so you can fix them in one go.

The pages in a PDF are counted from 1 at the first page of the file. That is not always the number printed on the page. A report that starts with a cover and a contents page may show "page 1" on its third sheet. Use the thumbnails to check which sheet you mean before you rely on the printed numbers.

Three common jobs

Blank pages from a double-sided scan. If your scanner scanned both sides of every sheet, the blank backs make every second page empty. When the scan started on a front side, Even pages selects exactly the blank backs, so press it and look at the thumbnails. If one back actually has writing on it, click it to take its cross off. Select blank pages measures how much ink each page has and ticks the ones that look empty, with a slider for how much ink still counts as blank. It only ticks: you check the thumbnails, which say why each page was picked, and press Remove pages yourself. A page with only a footer or a faint stamp is not counted as blank at the default, because it is not blank to the reader.

A cover or a stray page. Type 1 to remove a fax cover or a cover sheet, or click the first thumbnail. Do the same for a last page with a disclaimer you do not want.

An appendix that should not travel. Type the range, such as 14- for page 14 to the end, check the thumbnails, and download. Sending a shorter file is also a privacy step, but remember that the tool removes pages, not the document's information. If a PDF's title or author is sensitive, check them separately.

What it will not let you do

You cannot remove every page. If your choice covers the whole file, you get the message "That would remove every page. Leave at least one page in the file." The tool will not make an empty PDF.

Password-protected PDFs are handled with care. A file that asks for a password cannot be edited as it stands, so the tool tells you it is protected and links to Unlock PDF, and you drop the unlocked copy back in. If a PDF is damaged, you are told it could not be read and are pointed to Repair PDF. Both are quick and neither changes your original.

Check before you download

After you press Remove pages, the tool shows a preview of the new file with a count of pages kept and removed, and a Download PDF button. Scroll through the preview. It is much cheaper to find that you removed the wrong page now than after you have sent the file. The download is what counts as a use, so you can try different choices first.

Related tools for the same job

Removing pages is one of several ways to reshape a PDF, and the others are near at hand. Split PDF is the better choice when you want several smaller files instead of one shorter file, for example one PDF per chapter. If you would rather list the pages to keep than the pages to remove, the tool's own tip points to Extract Pages. Merge PDF puts the cleaned files back together into one document, for example when you remove cover pages from three reports and then combine them into a single pack. And Compress PDF reduces the size of the result when it is still too large to email. A sensible order is remove, merge, then compress, because every page you delete first is a page you do not have to compress.

Steps

1. Open Remove PDF Pages and drop in your PDF.
2. Look through the thumbnails. Click the pages you want removed, or type them as a list such as 2, 5-7.
3. Use Odd pages or Even pages for alternating blank pages, and click any page back off if it should stay.
4. Check the line that says how many pages will be removed and how many stay.
5. Press Remove pages and look through the preview.
6. Download the PDF, which is named after the original with "-removed-pages" added.
7. If you need one file, press New and process the next one, then combine them with Merge PDF.

The tool is a Professional Tool with 10 trial uses a day, then a $1 day pass or the $4.99 monthly plan.

Common mistakes

Using the page numbers printed on the sheets instead of the position in the file. Typing 1-200 as a lazy "to the end" and removing everything on a short file. Pressing Even pages on a scan that began with a blank back. Forgetting to check the thumbnails for a page that looks blank but is not. Sending the shortened file without checking the preview. And deleting pages from the only copy of a document without keeping the original, which this tool never touches but another editor might.

Summary

Deleting pages should take a minute, not an editor. Remove PDF Pages lets you click or type the pages to drop, understands ranges and mistakes, keeps your bookmarks and form fields, protects you from deleting everything, and leaves your original untouched. More tools for documents are in the PDF tools category.

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What kind of pages do you remove most often? Tell us on the contact page.