How to Compress a Large PDF on iPhone for Free
By Taha Baalla··5 min read
When PDF Compression Matters
PDFs from scanners or exported from design tools are often much larger than necessary for sharing. Email attachments over 20MB are routinely blocked. iPhone screen-to-PDF exports are usually small; scanner PDFs can be 50MB+.
Built-in option: iOS doesn't have native PDF compression. The Shortcuts app can reduce quality slightly through re-rendering, but significant compression requires a third-party tool or web service.
Practical free options: PDF Squeezer (Mac app, share from iPhone), ilovepdf.com (web-based, requires uploading), or sending via Mail (which compresses attachments automatically when you choose a smaller size option).
After compressing: save the final PDF to Nemos with context. The compressed version for sharing plus a voice note about what was compressed and when creates a record for your own reference.
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Where Nemos fits
Nemos is a private second brain for iPhone that solves the "I saved it somewhere" problem. Every screenshot, voice memo, PDF, and link you save gets OCR'd, transcribed, and indexed on-device using Apple Foundation Models. Find anything by typing one word. Free. Apple-only. Free on the App Store.