Extract pages from a PDF online — free, in your browser, no signup
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Sometimes you only need a few pages from a long PDF — chapter 3 of a textbook, the relevant section of a contract, the appendix from a report. SwissArmyPDF extracts any combination of pages into a clean new PDF, locally in your browser, with no upload and no watermark.
When extraction is the right tool
You want Extract when you need to keep specific pages and discard everything else into a single new file. Common cases:
- Just one section of a long document. "I only need pages 12–18 of this 200-page contract."
- Sharing a chapter. Extract chapter 5 from a textbook PDF for a friend.
- Pulling out the signed page. A signed signature page that you want to send back separately.
- Building a presentation packet. Pages 1–3 of one section, page 7, and pages 11–14 — all in one new PDF.
- Trimming for email. The recipient only needs a subset; you don't want to dump the whole thing on them.
How to extract PDF pages (step by step)
- Open Extract PDF Pages.
- Drop your PDF onto the page.
- Type the pages you want as a comma-separated range:
1-3, 5, 10-12. Single numbers, hyphenated ranges, mixed — all valid. - Click Extract — the new PDF downloads with only the pages you picked.
Pages keep their original order. To reorder them, run the extracted PDF through Organize PDF.
Extract vs Split vs Delete — three similar-looking tools, three different jobs
| Tool | Output | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Extract | One PDF containing only the pages you picked | You need a subset as one file |
| Split | Multiple PDFs, one per range or per page | You need each range as its own separate file |
| Delete | One PDF without the pages you picked | You're keeping most pages and only dropping a few |
For "I want pages 1–3 of a 100-page PDF," Extract is cleanest. For "I want pages 1–3 as one file and pages 5–7 as another," Split is. For "I want everything except pages 50–60," Delete is.
Range syntax — what works and what doesn't
The range parser is straightforward but exact:
- Single pages:
5 - Hyphenated ranges:
1-3(inclusive of both endpoints) - Multiple, comma-separated:
1-3, 5, 7-9, 12 - Whitespace is ignored.
1 - 3, 5works fine.
What doesn't work:
- En-dashes from Word autocorrect:
1–3(with –) won't parse. Use a plain hyphen. - Out-of-bounds pages:
200-250on a 100-page PDF — these get skipped silently. - Reverse ranges:
5-1won't pull pages in reverse order. Use Organize PDF to reorder.
Troubleshooting
- "Enter at least one valid page" error. Check your range syntax — most often a typo or an out-of-bounds number.
- Output is in the wrong order. Extract preserves source-document order. Run the result through Organize PDF to reorder.
- The wrong pages came out. Page numbers are 1-indexed and refer to physical pages, not any printed page number in the content. If your PDF has a 4-page front matter before "Page 1," the printed "Page 1" is actually physical page 5.
- Need a visual picker? The range syntax is fastest if you know the numbers. If you need to see thumbnails, use Delete PDF Pages on the inverse selection.
Why local extraction matters
You typically extract pages right before sending them somewhere — the extracted subset is the document you actually care about distributing. Uploading the full source PDF to a web tool means the unextracted version (which may contain pages you specifically didn't want to share) briefly lived on someone else's server. SwissArmyPDF runs extraction entirely in your browser via pdf-lib — the source file never leaves your device.
Common next steps
- Organize PDF — reorder the extracted pages.
- Merge PDF — combine the extracted pages with content from other PDFs.
- Compress PDF — shrink the extracted file before sending.
- Sign PDF — sign just the extracted signature page.