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Rantana's avatar
Rantana
Brass Contributor
May 22, 2026

How do I split pdf pages into separate files on Windows 11?

Got a massive PDF from work that's over 1000 pages long and needs to be split into separate files by section. The document is a compiled report and each section needs to be distributed to different t...
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LauraBennett's avatar
LauraBennett
Brass Contributor
Aug 28, 2026

Splitting a PDF means creating multiple PDF files from one document. You can separate every page, split the document at fixed intervals, or create files from custom page ranges, depending on the tool you use.

  • Built-in method

Split selected PDF pages with Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge and the built-in Microsoft Print to PDF printer can save selected pages as a new PDF. This is a workaround rather than a true PDF splitter, so you must repeat the process for every separate file.

  1. Open the PDF in Microsoft Edge.
  2. Press Ctrl + P and select Microsoft Print to PDF.
  3. Under Pages, enter one page, a range such as 2-5, or selected pages such as 1,3,7.
  4. Click Print and save the new PDF under a descriptive name.
  5. Repeat the process for each separate PDF file you need.

This method is free and works for occasional page extraction. However, it cannot automatically split every page into an individual PDF. Printing also recreates the document, so bookmarks, links, forms, comments, layers, accessibility information, and digital signatures may be removed. For high-volume splitting and better preservation of the original PDF structure, use dedicated PDF software instead.

  • Online tools

Split a PDF online for free with PDFgear

PDFgear Online Split PDF is free and does not require an account or email sign-up. Its current online splitter processes the PDF locally within the browser, so the file is not uploaded or transferred over the internet.

  1. Open PDFgear Online Split PDF and click Select PDF File: https://www.pdfgear.com/split-pdf/.
  2. Choose the PDF you want to separate.
  3. Click the scissors icon at each position where you want to split the PDF.
  4. Click Split into PDFs.
  5. Click Download File to save the resulting PDFs.

This browser-based PDF splitter can create multiple files, extract specific pages, or separate a large PDF at chosen points. Because processing depends on the browser and device, the PDFgear desktop application may perform better with very large documents.

Split PDF page ranges with Adobe Acrobat Online

Adobe Acrobat Online provides an established browser-based PDF splitter that can create up to 20 files using divider lines. Unlike PDFgear Online, it uploads the document to Adobe’s servers and requires you to sign in after the upload.

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Online Split PDF and select the PDF.
  2. Sign in after Acrobat uploads the document.
  3. Add divider lines to define the page range for each output file.
  4. Click Continue and choose a folder.
  5. Click Save, then download or share the split PDFs.

Adobe states that files are handled by its servers and deleted unless you sign in and save them. For contracts, identity documents, financial records, or other confidential PDFs, consider an offline desktop application instead.

  • Desktop applications

Split every PDF page into a separate file offline with PDFgear

PDFgear is a free Windows PDF editor that does not require an account or sign-in. All features in the PDFgear desktop app run locally and can be used offline, so PDF files do not need to be uploaded to a server.

  1. Open PDFgear and select Split PDF on the Home toolbar.
  2. Click Add Files.
  3. Choose Fixed Range and enter how many pages each output PDF should contain, or choose Custom Range to define your own page ranges.
  4. Select an output folder and click Split.

PDFgear is suitable for splitting a multi-page PDF into individual pages or several selected ranges in one operation. It retains the supported PDF structure more effectively than recreating the document through Microsoft Print to PDF.

Split a PDF with Adobe Acrobat Pro

Adobe Acrobat Pro is the paid professional option when you need to split a large PDF by page count, maximum file size, or top-level bookmarks.

  1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  2. Select All tools > Organize pages.
  3. Click Split a PDF.
  4. Choose pages, file size, or top-level bookmarks and configure the output options.
  5. Click Split and review the resulting files.

The free Adobe Acrobat Reader can view and print PDFs, but it does not include the full Split controls available in Acrobat Pro.

For occasional splitting, a built-in or online method may be sufficient. For large PDFs, repeated tasks, or more control over the output, use a dedicated desktop PDF editor.