How to crop a PDF in Adobe Acrobat
To crop a PDF in Adobe Acrobat, go to Edit, choose Crop page, draw a box around what you want to keep, then double-click it to set the margins and the pages.
Updated 12 November 2026
The steps in Acrobat on your computer
- Open your PDF in Acrobat and select Edit in the top toolbar.
- Select Crop page in the left pane.
- Drag a rectangle over the part you want to keep. Drag its corner handles to adjust it.
- Double-click inside the rectangle. The Set Page Boxes dialog opens.
- Adjust the margins if you need to. Remove White Margins trims the white space for you.
- Under Page Range, choose All, or type the pages you want.
- Select OK, then save the file.
From Adobe’s help page Crop pages in PDFs, as saved by the Internet Archive on 28 Oct 2026. Adobe’s site blocks automated checks, so we read the archived copy.
In Acrobat on the web
On the Acrobat web home page, choose Edit, then Crop pages, and upload your PDF. Drag the border handles, pick All under Page Range to crop every page, and select Crop. Adobe saves the cropped file to its cloud storage.
From Adobe’s help page Crop pages for Acrobat on the web, archived 5 Oct 2026.
The catch
- Some settings need Acrobat Pro. Adobe lists ArtBox, TrimBox and BleedBox as Pro only. Standard and Pro are paid plans.
- The free route uploads your file. Adobe’s free online crop tool uploads the PDF, then asks you to sign in before you can crop.
Plan details from Adobe’s desktop help page (archived 28 Oct 2026); sign-in step from its online crop page (archived 20 Oct 2026).
What cropping does to the file
Acrobat moves the page’s visible box and keeps everything outside it. Adobe’s own words: cropping “only hides content; it doesn’t reduce file size”, and resetting the page size brings it back. Our tool works the same way, by moving each page’s box.
We checked with one page of a scanned 1892 book. Before cropping, the file was 53,162 bytes. Cropped to the text, it was 53,221 bytes, and the full 2102 × 3491 pixel scan was still inside.
- Don’t crop to hide something private. Anyone can reset the page size and see it again. Use a redaction tool instead.
- To make a scanned book smaller, cropping won’t do it. FixMyScan rebuilds each page with only the text, which is what shrinks the file.
Acrobat and Crop PDF side by side
| Acrobat | Crop PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Basic crop open to all users; print boxes need Pro | Free |
| File uploaded | Desktop: no. Web and online tool: yes | No |
| Sign-in | Online tool: yes, after upload | No |
| Which pages | Any page range | Every page, or page 1 |
| Margins | Typed, or Remove White Margins | Dragged, with a suggested crop around the text |
| File size after | The same | The same |
A free way, with nothing uploaded
If all you need is the same crop on every page, Crop PDF does it without an account. The PDF opens in your browser, you drag the edges in, and you download the cropped copy. Your file stays on your device the whole time.
Crop every page free, no sign-in.
Crop my PDFWhen Acrobat is the better choice
Pick Acrobat if you need a margin typed to the exact point, a different crop for each page range, or the print boxes a printer asks for. Crop PDF keeps it simple: one crop for every page, or for page 1 only.
Questions
Can I crop a PDF with the free Adobe Reader?
Adobe’s help page says basic cropping is open to all users, and that the ArtBox, TrimBox and BleedBox settings need Acrobat Pro. Adobe’s free online crop tool asks you to sign in after your file uploads.
Why is my cropped PDF the same size in Acrobat?
Adobe says cropping only hides content and doesn’t reduce file size. Resetting the page size brings the hidden part back.
How do I crop every page in Acrobat?
In the Set Page Boxes dialog, choose All under Page Range before you select OK.