How to split a PDF
Open your PDF
Drag it onto the editor, or click Open PDF. Every page appears as a thumbnail down the left.
Tick the pages you want
Each thumbnail has a checkbox in its corner. Tick the pages you want to pull out — they can be anywhere in the document, they don't need to be consecutive.
Export your selection
Open the Export menu and choose Selected pages as PDF. You get one new file containing exactly those pages, in order.
Or split every page at once
Instead choose One PDF per page (.zip) to get a zip containing every page as its own separate PDF.
Two different kinds of splitting
People mean two things by “split a PDF”, and Plate does both:
- Extract a selection — you want pages 3, 7 and 12 as a single new document. Tick those three boxes and export. This is the right choice for pulling one signed page out of a contract, or sending a colleague only the section they need.
- Burst into single pages — you want a 40-page document to become 40 separate files. Use the zip option. Useful when each page is a separate certificate, invoice or form that needs filing individually.
Why it matters that nothing is uploaded
Splitting is often the step just before sharing something with someone else — which usually means the document contains more than you want that person to see. Pulling one page out of a bank statement, a payslip, or a medical report is exactly the moment you'd least want a full copy sitting on a stranger's server.
Plate reads and rewrites the file inside your browser. The pages you didn't select are never transmitted anywhere, because nothing is transmitted at all.
Deleting versus extracting. If you want to keep most of the document and remove a few pages, don't split — just hover the unwanted thumbnails and click the × icon, then download. If you want a small piece of a large document, extracting a selection is the faster route. Either way, Ctrl/Cmd + Z undoes up to 25 steps if you change your mind.
Common questions
Is splitting a PDF free?
Yes — no page limit, no watermark, no account, and no paid tier.
Do I have to upload my PDF?
No. The split runs entirely in your browser, so the document never leaves your device.
Can I extract non-consecutive pages?
Yes. Tick any combination of pages — they don't need to be next to each other, and they'll appear in the new file in document order.
Can I split a PDF into single pages?
Yes. Choose 'One PDF per page (.zip)' from the Export menu to get every page as its own file in a zip.
Does the original file change?
No. Your original stays untouched on your device — splitting produces a new file that you download separately.