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How to split a PDF on a Mac

By DeckleUpdated

To split a PDF on a Mac, open Split PDF in your browser, drop the PDF onto the page, choose how to split it and choose the Create button, which shows how many PDFs it will make. Deckle saves each part as a new PDF and leaves the original unchanged. Preview can also pull pages out of a PDF; both methods are below.

Split PDF
Illustrated document pages containing a chart, photograph and text.
Illustration · a document can contain more than its visible pages.

How to split a PDF on a Mac with Deckle

  1. Open Split PDF in Safari, Chrome or Firefox.
  2. Drag the PDF from the Finder onto the page, or choose Select a file.
  3. Under How to split it, choose a mode: Choose split points, One file per page, Fixed-size chunks or Page ranges I choose.
  4. Set the split. Click the scissors between pages, enter Pages per file, or type a From page and To page for each range.
  5. Check the Planned files list. The eye button previews the pages of each planned file.
  6. Choose the button, such as Create 3 PDFs.
  7. Download the files one by one, or all of them as one ZIP.

The result screen tells you how many PDFs were made from how many pages, so a missing range stands out.

Which split mode to pick

You want Mode
To cut at chapter breaks you can see in the thumbnails Choose split points
Every page as its own PDF One file per page
Files of a fixed length, such as every 10 pages Fixed-size chunks
Specific pages, such as 4–9, in a new file Page ranges I choose

Ranges include both ends, so pages 4 to 9 make a six-page file. Pages outside every range are left out, and the planned files list names them. Example: a 40-page handbook with chapters starting on pages 1, 12, 25 and 33 needs split points after pages 11, 24 and 32 to make four chapter files.

For detail on ranges, see how to split a PDF by page range.

Split a PDF with Preview

Preview can make a new PDF from selected pages in two ways.

Drag pages out. Apple's page Add, delete, or move PDF pages in Preview on Mac explains that you can create a new PDF by dragging thumbnails from a PDF's sidebar to the desktop:

  1. Open the PDF in Preview and choose View > Thumbnails.
  2. Select the pages you want. Command-click to pick several.
  3. Drag them from the sidebar to the desktop. Preview creates a new PDF from them.

Print the pages to PDF. In Print PDFs and images in Preview on Mac, Apple shows how to print only selected thumbnails, and Save a document as a PDF on Mac shows how to save a print job as a PDF:

  1. Select the pages in the sidebar.
  2. Choose File > Print, and choose Selection in the Preview section.
  3. Click the PDF button or its arrow, choose Save as PDF and name the file.

Both methods make one new file at a time. For a document that needs cutting into many parts, Deckle's planned files list is quicker.

Tips

  • Use page positions, not printed numbers. A cover and contents pages shift the numbering, so printed page 1 may be page 4 of the file.
  • Overlap ranges if a page belongs in two files. A shared cover page can go into every part. The editor says how many pages are repeated.
  • Download a ZIP for many parts. A ZIP holds up to 2,048 files. The Finder opens it with a double-click.
  • Keep the whole file. Splitting never removes pages from the original, so keep it as the master copy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I split a PDF on a Mac without installing an app?

Yes. Use Split PDF in your browser, or Preview, which comes with macOS.

How do I extract one page from a PDF on a Mac?

In Split PDF, choose Page ranges I choose and enter the same number in From page and To page. In Preview, drag that page's thumbnail to the desktop.

Does splitting reduce quality?

No. Each part is a copy of the source pages. Text stays selectable and images are not recompressed.

Can I split a password-protected PDF?

Make an unlocked copy with Unlock PDF using the password you have, then split the copy.

Related tools

Sources