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PPDF123

Keep Just the First Three Pages of a PDF

Extract First 3 Pages builds a new PDF from pages 1 to 3 of your file, in order, and leaves the original untouched. The page field is preset to 1-3 and accepts any other range you type.

Drag and drop a file here, or click to choose

Accepts PDF · up to 500.0 MB per file

You can also paste a file with Ctrl/Cmd+V, or from the clipboard menu.

A long document often has a useful opening: a contract's key terms, a report's summary, the first chapter of a book you want to preview. Setting the page field to 1-3 keeps those three pages and drops the rest, which also makes the file much smaller to send.

The range is written the way most people write a print range. 1-3 means pages 1, 2 and 3; 1-5 would keep five. Pages come out in the order you list them, and the new file is a copy of the originals, so text stays selectable.

Because the field accepts a full page list, you can also type something like 1-3,10 to add a closing page. The first three pages are only the starting value.

Features

  • Page field preset to 1-3, ready to process
  • Any range or list works: 1-5, 1-3,10, 4-
  • Pages are copied, not re-rendered; text stays selectable
  • The original file is left as it was

When to use this tool

  • Sharing a preview of a long document without sending all of it
  • Cutting a lengthy scan down to the pages a form actually asks for
  • Making a short sample of an ebook-style PDF

How do I keep only the first 3 pages of a PDF?

  1. Upload the PDF
  2. Keep 1-3 in the page field, or type another range such as 1-5
  3. Click Process and download the shorter PDF

Limits and edge cases

  • A range that reaches past the last page is rejected with a clear message
  • The pages come out in the order you list them, not sorted
  • Bookmarks that point at removed pages are not carried over

Test results and conditions

  • Test file: a 10-page PDF generated for this project's test suite, one line of text per page.
  • With the page field set to 1-3, the result was a 3-page PDF.

Privacy for this tool

Files are uploaded over HTTPS, processed in memory or a short-lived temporary directory on our servers, and deleted when your result is ready. We do not keep copies for later browsing, training, or advertising profiles. See the Privacy Policy for retention details and AdSense cookie disclosures.

Frequently asked questions

What does 1-3 mean in the page field?
Pages 1, 2 and 3. A dash joins the first and last page of a range, the same way a print dialog does.
What if my PDF has only two pages?
The range goes past the last page, so the request is rejected with a message about the page that does not exist. Use 1-2 instead.
Can I add one more page after the first three?
Yes. Type a list such as 1-3,10 and the tool keeps pages 1 to 3 and page 10, in that order.
Will the file get smaller?
Usually yes, in proportion to the pages you drop. Shared images are kept once, so a short extract can still carry large assets used on its pages.

Last updated:

Call this from code

Every tool on this site is a plain REST endpoint - no account or API key needed for anonymous use. Built for AI agents and developers as much as for browsers.

curl -X POST "https://pdf123.xyz/api/v1/general/rearrange-pages" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "pageNumbers=1" \
  -o output.pdf

Also available as an MCP tool for agent clients that speak Model Context Protocol (JSON-RPC 2.0 over POST /mcp). Full API reference

Use it from an AI agent

Skill

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other AI agents can run Extract Pages for you with this skill: /skills/pdf123-extract-pages.md

All agent skills

Files are used only for this processing job and deleted automatically afterward.