Got a scanned document with huge white borders, or want to focus on a single table on a page? Cropping a PDF narrows the visible area to any rectangle you choose — and your file never leaves your device.
What is cropping a PDF good for?
- Trimming the wide margins on scanned documents.
- Focusing on a single table, chart or section on a page.
- Removing repeating header/footer areas from view.
- Framing the page neatly for presentation or printing.
How to crop a PDF — step by step
- Upload the PDF: Drag and drop your PDF into the crop tool; the first page opens in the preview.
- Set the crop box: Drag the box to move it, and resize from the corners or edges to select the area you want to keep.
- Choose scope and download: Pick 'All pages' or 'This page only' and click 'Crop & Download' to get the result.
Crop PDF — Drag and resize the box, crop and download — on your device, free.
Does cropping delete content?
No. Cropping is a standard PDF operation that narrows the page's visible area (CropBox); the remaining area displays and prints cleanly. It runs entirely in your browser, and your file is not sent to a server.
To crop different areas on different pages, use 'This page only' and apply it page by page. If you need to rotate pages first, use the 'Rotate PDF' tool.
Cropping is not deleting — and that has a consequence
Cropping narrows a page's visible area; the trimmed part is not removed from the file, only hidden. For everyday use that distinction does not matter, and the document looks as you want on screen and in print. It becomes critical if you crop in order to hide information: the text in the cropped area stays in the file and can technically be restored. When something genuinely has to go, you need a tool that removes content permanently.
Where it helps most on scans
Scanners work to the paper size, so an A5 receipt scanned on A4 leaves half the page blank. Reading such a document means constant scrolling, and in print the small content sits marooned in the middle of a large sheet. Trimming the margins makes the document both readable and tidy, and pages look consistent when you merge several receipts.
Getting the order right before cropping
- Rotate sideways pages first; the crop box works relative to page orientation.
- Delete unwanted pages first, leaving fewer pages to crop.
- With mixed page sizes, applying one crop to all of them can cut content on some.
- If you will add page numbers, leave them until last — the number is placed relative to the new edge.
What happens in print
A cropped page reaches the printer as a smaller page, and the printer may enlarge it to fit the sheet. That usually makes the text more legible and is often exactly what you want. But if the document must be a specific size on paper — an official form, for example — cropping changes that size. On such documents it is worth thinking twice.
Does file size change?
Because cropping does not remove content, file size does not drop meaningfully. If size is your problem, you need compression rather than cropping. Using both makes sense: narrow the page to the area you want, then compress the file.