CM/ECF file size limit, and how to split a large PDF

A large PDF in CM/ECF at a glance

What you see	Cause	What to do
CM/ECF rejects the upload	The PDF is over the court’s maximum file size	Split the PDF into parts under the limit
At the Northern District of Georgia, a PDF under 800 pages is over 30 MB	Likely scanned in color, grayscale or at a high resolution	Scan again with the settings under “Why is a scanned PDF so large?”
CM/ECF rejects a password-protected PDF	Encrypted or password-protected PDFs are not accepted	Get a copy without the password

What is the CM/ECF file size limit?

There is no single CM/ECF file size limit. The federal judiciary says, in its NextGen CM/ECF guide, that each court determines the maximum file size for a PDF. Limits posted by five federal courts, read on November 12, 2026:

Court	Limit per PDF
U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington	100 MB per document or attachment
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania	50 MB per file
U.S. District Court, Central District of California	35 MB per file (notice of August 2, 2019)
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia	30 MB per file
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Florida	5 MB per file, main documents and attachments

For your own court, open the Court Information page in CM/ECF and read the Maximum PDF File Size field.

How to split a large PDF here

FairFill PDF splits a PDF by page, saving the pages you pick as their own PDF.

1. Open the PDF with the button above. You can open PDFs up to 100 MB, and the PDF is never uploaded.
2. Place the $1.99 hold. Nothing is charged until you download, and the hold is released if you don’t download within 24 hours.
3. In the page side bar, press the pick button on each page of the first part.
4. Press Download these, then the Download button in the window that opens. We charge the $1.99 on the first download, and your browser saves those pages as their own PDF.
5. Press Clear, pick the pages of the next part, and press Download these again. You can download the same PDF again free in the same browser for 24 hours.
6. Repeat until every page is in a part, then rename each file as your court directs.
7. Look up each part’s size on your computer. If a part is over your court’s limit, split it again with fewer pages.

You can also open the extract pages from a PDF tool directly.

How do you file the parts?

The federal judiciary says an oversized filing can be split into smaller PDFs and filed together in one event, as a main document with separate attachments. The Western District of Washington asks filers to label each part, for example as part 1 and part 2 of an exhibit.

The Central District of California calls the parts sub-volumes, and limits each PDF file to one document or part of one document. The bankruptcy court for the Northern District of Florida suggests attaching each part to the docketing event.

The federal judiciary says district and bankruptcy CM/ECF accepts editable forms, but a court may reject them under its own policy. For a part with a filled court form, see how to flatten a PDF.

Why is a scanned PDF so large?

The Northern District of Georgia says a file under 800 pages but over 30 MB was likely scanned in color, in grayscale or at a high resolution.

That court suggests scanning at 300 DPI or less, in black and white, with color only when necessary. The Western District of Washington also requires scanned documents to be 300 dpi and black and white, unless color is integral to the document.

FairFill PDF doesn’t change a scan’s resolution. If a single page is still too large, scan that page again with the settings your court gives.