Chrome won't shrink a PDF for you. The Chrome Web Store has compressor extensions but most redirect to web apps after grabbing the file. Skipping the extension and going direct to the web app is one less step.
The direct route
Open Chrome. Go to Flint's compressor. Drag the PDF in. Pick Light, Medium, or Heavy. Click compress. Download the smaller file.
30 seconds for typical PDFs. Medium drops 50–80% with no visible quality loss.
Why not use an extension?
Extensions request permissions, often want sign-ins, and many simply redirect to the underlying web app anyway. For occasional compression, opening flintpdf.com in a tab is faster and cleaner.
Combining with trimming
If a PDF is big because it has too many pages, split or delete unwanted pages before compressing. The combination dramatically reduces final size — trimmed-then-compressed beats just-compressed.
FAQ
Will compression work on a slow connection?
Compression itself is fast once the file is uploaded. Upload time is the variable — large PDFs over slow connections take longer to send to the compressor. For ten-MB files, 30 seconds total on most connections.
Does compression remove signatures?
No. Compression targets embedded images, not signatures or annotations. Signed PDFs stay signed after compression.
How does it compare to Smallpdf or iLovePDF?
Comparable quality and speed. Flint's advantage is no account required for individual use and no daily limits on basic operations. The big three online compressors have varying free tiers; Flint is more generous.
Compress in the browser tab you've already got open. Open Flint.