How to extract pages from a PDF
Pulling a few pages out of a long PDF shouldn’t need expensive software. Choose the pages you want and you get a brand-new PDF containing only those pages. Your original file stays exactly as it was, and it never leaves your device.
- 1
Add your PDF
Drag your file onto the box above, or tap “choose a file”. It opens in your browser in a moment and shows a preview of every page.
- 2
Pick your pages
Click the pages you want to keep, or type them in the box: single pages separated by commas and ranges with a dash, for example 1-3, 7, 10-12. The previews and the text box stay in sync.
- 3
Check the order
Pages you type keep the order you type them in, so “8, 1-3” puts page 8 first. Pages you click are kept in their original order.
- 4
Download your new PDF
Press Extract. Your new PDF downloads straight away, named after the original with “-extract” added, so it’s easy to find.
When extracting pages is useful
Most PDFs contain more than the person you’re sending them to needs. Extracting just the relevant pages keeps attachments small, protects information that isn’t anyone else’s business, and saves the reader from scrolling. Common examples:
- Contracts and agreements: send only the signed signature page, or the one clause a colleague needs to review.
- Bank and utility statements: share the single month a landlord or agency asks for, instead of a whole year of transactions.
- Reports and e-books: pull out one chapter to print, annotate or read on a different device.
- Slide decks exported as PDF: turn the five slides that matter into a handout.
- Scanned paperwork: separate one document from a long batch scan.
What stays the same in your extracted pages
Pages are copied, not converted into pictures. That means text stays sharp and can still be selected, searched and copied. Images keep their original resolution, and fonts come along with the pages that use them. Page sizes and orientations are preserved too, so a landscape spreadsheet page stays landscape and a page that was already rotated keeps its rotation.
A few things belong to the document as a whole rather than to individual pages: the bookmarks panel, document-level settings and fillable form fields. These aren’t carried into the new file, which is also how most extraction tools behave. If you need them, keep a copy of the original PDF alongside the extract.
Extract, split or delete: which tool do you need?
All three tools work with pages, and the right one depends on what you want to end up with:
- Extract gives you one new PDF made of the pages you choose. Best when you’re keeping a few pages out of many.
- Split PDF gives you several PDFs at once, such as one per chapter or one per page.
- Delete PDF Pages is quicker when you want to keep almost everything and remove just a handful of pages.
Need the pages in a completely different order, or some of them rotated? Organize PDF lets you drag pages around, turn them and drop the ones you don’t need, all in one place.
Private by design
Most online PDF tools upload your document to their servers to process it. PDFCocoon doesn’t. Your file is opened and edited by your own web browser, and the new PDF is created on your device. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else, so it’s a good fit for contracts, payslips, medical letters and anything else you’d rather keep to yourself.
You can check this yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab while you extract pages, and you’ll see that your document is never transmitted. Read more in our guide Are online PDF tools safe?
Frequently asked questions
Is there a limit on how many pages I can extract?
No. You can extract any number of pages from PDFs up to 200 MB. Very large files depend on how much memory your device has, so a phone may be slower than a laptop with big documents.
Can I extract pages in a different order?
Yes. Type the pages in the order you want them, for example “9, 2-4”, and the new PDF follows that order. If you click pages instead, they keep their original order.
Will the extracted pages lose quality?
No. Pages are copied exactly as they are rather than re-rendered, so text stays sharp and searchable and images keep their full resolution.
Can I extract pages from a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. If a PDF is protected, open it in your PDF reader with the password, save an unprotected copy (or use Print → Save as PDF), and then extract pages from that copy.
Is my original PDF changed?
No. Extracting creates a new file and leaves your original untouched. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is stored once you close the page.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Open this page in your phone’s browser, choose a PDF from your files, tap the pages you want and download the result. It works on iPhone, iPad and Android.