How to Split a PDF into Multiple PDFs in Adobe Acrobat (PC & Mac)

In a recent tutorial, we extracted pages from a PDF in Adobe Acrobat. Today, we’re going to split a PDF into multiple PDFs in Adobe Acrobat.

You may be wondering…

What Is the Difference between Splitting PDFs and Extracting Pages?

The split option lets you create new PDFs according to the number of pages, file size, or top-level bookmarks in the original PDF. This option is best for segmenting long documents, such as saving chapters as individual files.

The extract pages option lets you save individual pages, page ranges, even or odd pages, or landscape or portrait pages as separate PDFs. This option is best when you need to separate a small number of specific pages from a longer document.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Adobe Acrobat DC. These steps also apply to Adobe Acrobat 2020 and Adobe Acrobat 2017. In addition, these steps are similar for PC and Mac users. The few differences between the two systems are explained within the individual steps.

Adobe’s free PDF display software, Acrobat Reader, doesn’t offer a way to split PDFs.

How to Split a PDF into Multiple PDFs

Open the PDF that you want to split.
Select the Tools tab.

Tools tab in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 1.Tools tab

Select Organize Pages in the Tools Center.

Organize Pages button in the Tools Center in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 2. Organize Pages button

Select Split in the Organize Pages toolbar.

Split button in the Organize Pages toolbar in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 3. Split button

Select an option from the Split by menu:

- Number of pages
- File Size
- Top-level bookmarks

Split by menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 4. “Split by” menu

If you selected Number of pages or File Size, enter the number of pages or megabytes into the secondary menu.

"Split by" secondary menu in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 5. “Split by” secondary menu

Select Output Options.

Output Options button in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 6. Output Options button

Select the folder where you want to save your new PDFs in the Output Options dialog box:

- The Same Folder Selected at Start is the location of the PDF you are splitting.
- A Folder on My Computer lets you select another folder or accessible cloud storage such as OneDrive.

Target Folder options in the Output Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat — Figure 7. Target Folder options

(Optional) If you selected A Folder on My Computer, select the Browse button on a PC (figure 8) or the Choose button on a Mac (figure 9).

Browse button in the Output Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat on PC — Figure 8. Browse button (PC)

Choose button in the Output Options dialog box in Adobe Acrobat on Mac — Figure 9. Choose button (Mac)

(Optional) Find and select the folder in the Select Folder for Output Files dialog box, and then select the Select Folder button on a PC (figure 10) or the Choose button on a Mac (figure 11).

Select Folder button in the Select Folder for Output Files dialog box in Adobe Acrobat on a PC — Figure 10. Select Folder button (PC)

Choose button in the Finder in Mac — Figure 11. Choose button (Mac)

Select your file labeling options.

The default option will place an underscore followed by the label “Part” and the part number after the original file name, such as MyOriginalPDF_Part1.pdf.