Split PDF by Bookmarks
Turn a book, manual or report into one PDF per chapter or section, using its bookmarks.
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Processed in your browser — files never leave your device. How it works
How to Split a PDF by Bookmarks or Chapters
A 400-page e-book or a 120-page annual report is hard to share when someone only needs one chapter. If the PDF has bookmarks — the clickable outline most readers show in a sidebar — those bookmarks already mark where every chapter and section begins. PDFDoco reads them and splits the document at exactly those pages, names every file after its chapter, and lets you preview and pick the chapters before anything is created. The whole process runs in your browser, so the document never leaves your device.
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Upload a PDF with bookmarks
E-books, manuals, reports and theses often have a bookmark for every chapter. Check your reader's sidebar.
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Choose the bookmark level
Top level splits by chapter. Deeper levels also split at sections, sub-sections and so on.
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Review the chapters
See each file's title, page range and name. Untick any chapter you don't need.
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Split and download
You get one PDF per chapter, numbered in book order and bundled in a ZIP.
Any bookmark level
Split by chapter, by section, or deeper. Each level shows how many files it will create before you choose.
Named after the chapter
Files are called 01-introduction.pdf, 02-methods.pdf… and each keeps its own sub-bookmarks for navigation.
Private by design
Your book or report is split on your device. Nothing is uploaded, stored or shared.
Where bookmarks come from
PDFs exported from Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice, InDesign or LaTeX can include a bookmark for every heading, as long as the document uses real heading styles and the export setting is on. E-books, technical manuals, theses, and government or legal reports often have them. Scanned books and PDFs printed from a browser usually don't — for those, Split by Text or Split by Pages works better.
Choosing the right level
Bookmarks form a tree. A textbook might have parts at the top level, chapters inside each part, and sections inside each chapter. Each level option shows how many files it would make, so you can tell at a glance which one matches the chapters. If the top level holds just one bookmark — often the book's own title — the tool starts at the first level that actually divides the document.
Handy for study, work and publishing
Students split a course reader so each week's reading is its own file. Teams send only the relevant chapter of a specification to a supplier. Authors and publishers produce sample chapters for review copies. And splitting a long manual by section makes it far easier to read on a phone, where scrolling through hundreds of pages to find one procedure is slow.
What each chapter file contains
Every page is copied exactly — text stays selectable, images keep full quality, and nothing is converted to pictures. Each file keeps the bookmarks that belong to it, links between its own pages still work, and the chapter title is saved as the file's title. Files are numbered (01, 02, 03…) so they stay in reading order in any folder or ZIP viewer.
Pro tip: want only one or two chapters? Click "Select none", tick the chapters you need, and you'll get just those files.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I split a PDF by chapter?
Upload the PDF and leave the level on "Top level". In most books and reports, top-level bookmarks are the chapters, so you get one PDF per chapter. The preview shows each chapter's title and pages before you split, and you can untick any you don't want.
What do the bookmark levels mean?
Bookmarks are nested like a table of contents. Top-level bookmarks are usually chapters; level 2 bookmarks are the sections inside them, and so on. Choosing a deeper level splits at that level and every level above it — so level 2 gives one file per chapter opening plus one per section.
What happens to the pages before the first bookmark?
Pages such as the cover, title page or table of contents that come before the first bookmark become a separate "Front matter" file, numbered 00 so it sorts first. Untick it in the preview if you don't need it.
My PDF has no bookmarks. What can I do?
If every chapter starts with the same word, such as "Chapter", use Split by Text to start a new file wherever that word appears. If the chapters have a fixed length, use Split by Pages. You can also add bookmarks yourself with the PDF Bookmarks editor and then come back here.
Are the bookmarks inside each chapter kept?
Yes. Each file keeps every bookmark that points into its own pages, re-nested so the chapter is at the top. The chapter title is also saved as the file's document title, which many PDF readers show in the window title.
Why did two bookmarks end up in the same file?
When two bookmarks point to the same page — for example "Part I" and "Chapter 1" on one page — splitting between them would create an empty file, so they are merged. The preview shows both titles, and the file is named after the more specific one.
Some bookmarks are missing from the preview. Why?
Only bookmarks that jump to a page in this PDF can be used as split points. Bookmarks that open a website, run a script or point to another file are skipped, as are bookmarks deeper than the level you selected.