How to extract pages from a PDF: a decision guide

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You have a 40-page report and the recipient needs pages 7 to 9. Or a scanned bundle where only the signature page matters. Or a file that is just over an upload limit. The fix is the same in each case: save the pages you want as a new PDF and leave the original alone. This page helps you decide how, and then walks through the browser tool.

Start here: which route do you need?

Work through these questions in order.

1. Do you want the pages as pictures rather than a PDF? Yes: use PDF to JPG or PDF to PNG instead. Each page becomes an image in a ZIP. See how to convert a PDF to JPG.

2. Is the PDF protected by a password? Yes: Extract PDF pages does not support password-protected PDFs. If you are entitled to remove the protection, do that in the software that set it, then come back.

3. Is the file over 50 MB? Yes: the tool will not take it. Check whether the file can be made smaller where it was created, or use software that handles larger files.

4. Is the file in OneDrive or SharePoint and does your account include the feature? Yes: Microsoft documents an Extract option for that situation (see below). Otherwise carry on.

5. None of the above? Use the browser tool in the next section. It runs on your device, and the file contents are not uploaded to ConvertMango's conversion service.

Using Extract PDF pages

1. Open Extract PDF pages.
2. Add your PDF.
3. In the Pages to keep box, type the pages you want, for example 1, 3-5.
4. Convert, and keep the tab open until the download is ready.
5. Save the result. It is named convertmango-split-pdf.pdf; rename it straight away.
6. Open it and check the first and last page and the page count.

Convert it now: Extract PDF pages.

How page numbers are read

Typing is where most mistakes happen, so here are the rules the tool applies.

Two details from the tool's own notes are worth remembering. First, the numbers are positions in the file. Page "1" is the first page of the PDF, even if the printed number on it says iii or the report starts numbering after a cover. If you are looking at a printed number in a viewer, use the viewer's page counter instead. Second, the order you enter is the order used, and repeated page numbers are removed. So a page typed twice appears once.

Taking out pages rather than keeping them

The tool is built around the pages you keep. To remove pages 4 and 5 from a 10-page PDF, enter everything else: 1-3, 6-10. Write the list out on paper first if the file is long.

Splitting into parts

To cut a 30-page PDF into three chunks, run the tool three times with 1-10, 11-20 and 21-30, renaming each output as you go. Each run produces a separate PDF.

Reordering pages

Because the order you enter is used, you can also reorder pages while extracting: entering 3, 1, 2 puts the third page first. Check the result carefully, since this is easy to get wrong with long lists. If you want to join several pieces afterwards, Merge PDF combines up to 30 PDFs, and the merge guide explains the checks.

The Microsoft 365 route

Microsoft's documentation describes an Extract option for PDFs stored in SharePoint or OneDrive. You open the PDF, choose More options (...), then Extract, select the page you want, and select Extract again. Microsoft states the feature is available to users with a per-user or pay-as-you-go licence, or with SharePoint in their subscription plan, so whether you have it depends on your account. This guide does not describe other desktop programs, because only this one route was checked against the vendor's documentation.

What to check afterwards

1. Page count. Does it match what you typed?
2. First and last page. Are they the ones you meant?
3. Content you rely on. Features inside a PDF such as links, bookmarks and form fields may not behave in the extracted file as they did in the original, and we do not promise they are preserved. Test anything important.
4. Sensitive material. If you extract to share only part of a document, open the new file and make sure the other pages are really not in it before you send it. Do not rely on file size alone.

When extraction is not the right tool

• You want to hide text on a page you are keeping. Extracting pages does not remove anything inside a page. Use proper redaction software for that.
• You want to edit the text. ConvertMango does not edit PDF text; edit the source document.
• The PDF is a scan. You can extract pages, but the text will not be searchable unless it was made searchable before.

After extracting

Rename the file with its purpose and date, keep the original unchanged, and if you need the pages as pictures for a slide or chat message, PDF to JPG will make them. For background on how PDF is built around pages, read what is a PDF.

Limits

One PDF at a time, up to 50 MB. Password-protected PDFs are not supported. The result is a single new PDF each time.

Frequently asked questions

Related tools

More guides

Sources

Plain-text references. Facts that could not be checked against a primary source were left out.

1. Microsoft, 'Merge and extract PDF files', https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/documentprocessing/merge-extract-pdf?view=o365-worldwide
2. Library of Congress, 'PDF (Portable Document Format) family', https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000030.shtml