This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido and by wikiHow staff writer, Travis Boylls. Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
This article has been viewed 1,139,585 times.
Are you working with a PDF document that you want to break into multiple files? Splitting PDFs is quick and easy if you have the right software. If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can use the built-in Split Document function to split the pages up. But if you need a free option, don't worry—we've found plenty of options. To learn how to separate or split pages in your PDF file, read on!
Method 1 of 4:
Open the PDF file in Google Chrome. The easiest way to do this is to drag the PDF file into an open Chrome window. [1] X Expert Source
Click the Print icon. It's the icon that resembles a printer in the upper-right corner. This displays the Print menu.
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Select "Save as PDF" as the Destination. Use the drop-down menu next to "Destination" to select "Save as PDF".
Select "Custom" next to "Pages". Use the drop-down menu next to "Pages" to select "Custom". This allows you to create a new PDF from a range of pages. [2] X Research source
Enter the range of pages that you want to create as a new document. Use the text field below the "Pages" drop-down menu to enter the pages you want to save as a new PDF. For example, let's say you have a 10-page PDF file that you want to split, with the first 7 pages in one file and the last 3 in another. In the Pages section, you would enter "1-7" to create a PDF file with the first 7 pages. [3] X Expert Source
Click Save . It's the blue button in the lower-right corner [4] X Expert Source
Type a name for the PDF. Use the field next to "File name" to enter a name for the split PDF. It is recommended you give the new PDF a different name from the original.
Repeat the process to create more documents. If you need to create another document for the other pages, repeat these steps to create another document and use another range of pages to save the next document. For example, if you want the next document to contain pages 8-10, just enter "8-10" as the range of pages below "Custom" in the print menu.
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Download the CutePDF software. Unlike OS X, Windows does not come with any software that can manipulate PDF files. CutePDF is a freeware program that allows you to easily split PDF files from any program that can open them. Use the following steps to download CutePDF: [6] X Expert Source
Open the PDF file that you want to split. Double-click a PDF file to open it in your default PDF reader. CutePDF works from within any PDF program. You can open the PDF in Adobe Reader or a web browser.
Open the Print menu. You can typically open the Print menu by click File followed by Print or by press Ctrl (Command on Mac) + P. In a web browser, click the icon that resembles a printer in the upper-right corner. [7] X Expert Source
Select "CutePDF Writer" from your list of available printers. CutePDF acts as a virtual printer, and creates a PDF file instead of printing the document. [8] X Research source Select CutePDF Writer" in the drop-down menu next to "Printers" or "Destination". [9] X Expert Source
Select the option to print a range of pages. By default, the Print menu is set to print all pages. Click the "Pages" radio option, or drop-down menu to select the option to print a range of pages.
Enter the range of pages you want to split into a new document. Use the field below the Pages option in the print menu to specify a range of pages you want to convert into a new PDF. For example, if you want pages 1 through 5 to be converted to a new PDF, you would enter "1-5" in the field. By specifying the pages, you'll create a new document from the pages you select. [10] X Expert Source
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Click Print or Save . This button is usually in the lower-right corner. You'll be prompted to give it a name and select the location.
Type a name for the PDF. Use the field next to "Filename" to enter a name for the split PDF. It is recommended you give the new PDF a different name from the original.
Repeat the process to create more PDFs. If you need to create another PDF for the pages you didn't save, repeat these steps to create another PDF for the rest of the pages.
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Click the View menu and select Thumbnails . The view menu is in the menu bar at the top. Select "Thumbnails" from the drop-down menu. This will display a list of all the pages in a panel to the left.
Hold ⌘ Command or ⇧ Shift and click the pages you want to split. Click the pages in the panel to the left to select them. Hold the Command key and click to select multiple pages. Hold the Shift key to select multiple pages in a row.
Drag and drop the selected pages onto your desktop. This will create a new PDF with all the pages you have selected.
Repeat to create multiple documents. To create multiple split files, simply hold Command or Shift and select the pages you want to split into a separate PDF. Then click and drag them onto the desktop to create a new PDF with those pages.
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Open the PDF you want to split in Adobe Acrobat. If you have the paid version of Adobe Acrobat installed, you can use it to split your PDFs. You can't split PDFs with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, so if that's all you have you'll need to use one of the other methods in this article. [12] X Expert Source
Click Split . It's in the panel at the top of the page. It's next to an icon that resembles scissors.
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Select how you want to split the document. Use the drop-down menu at the top next to "Split by" to select how you want to split the document. You can split it by the number of pages, file size, or top-level bookmarks. [14] X Research source
Click Split . It's the blue button at the top. This will split the document by the specifications you set.
AdvertisementLuigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.
Computer & Tech Specialist Expert AnswerTry using CutePDF or Adobe Acrobat. With Adobe Acrobat, you'll have to use the paid version to split your PDF.
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Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.
Computer & Tech Specialist Expert AnswerUse a virtual printer. Open the PDF and then select the pages that you want to cut out. Then, using either Adobe Acrobat, Google Chrome, or another application (like CutePDF), print the PDF and choose to save it as a new PDF. This will create a new, edited version of the original PDF with just the pages you need.
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
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Advertisement ReferencesThis article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido and by wikiHow staff writer, Travis Boylls. Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years. This article has been viewed 1,139,585 times.
How helpful is this? Co-authors: 17 Updated: March 21, 2024 Views: 1,139,585 Categories: Editing PDF Documents1. Open the PDF in Chrome.
2. Press Command + P or Ctrl + P.
3. Choose Save as PDF as the destination.
4. Enter a page range for the new PDF.
5. Click Save and then Save.
6. Press Command + P or Ctrl + P.
7. Enter the page range for the second PDF.
8. Click Save and then Save.
"Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot tell you how helpful this was! I frequently need to pull one page out of a 2,500+ page PDF to send digitally without having adobe acrobat reader. The google chrome option for this specific task will get me by until I purchase the software." . " more
Rated this article:"Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot tell you how helpful this was! I frequently need to pull one page out of a 2,500+ page PDF to send digitally without having adobe acrobat reader. The google chrome option for this specific task will get me by until I purchase the software." . " more
Rated this article:"I used the Print feature in Google Chrome and it worked like a charm! I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner! I had a document with more sensitive information so I didn't want to upload it online, but didn't have Acrobat to split the PDF. Thanks!" . " more
"Thank you so much! I used this to help split an invoice file into individual files and send it to each customer, without the need for extra software!" . " more
Rated this article:"Totally worked! Solved a problem I've had for ages. The only problem is that I now feel a little stupid. "
Rated this article: "You're a life saver. This just saved me a lot of trouble and running round. Best PDF tip ever."How to Merge PDF Files on the Web or Your Desktop: 5 Methods
How to Extract Pages from a PDF Document to Create a New One
4 Easy Ways to Fill Out Downloadable and Fillable PDF Forms
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