IQ PDF Manager
Task guide · Extract

How to extract specific pages from a PDF

Often someone needs one form, one chapter or two pages of a statement — not the whole document. Extraction gives them exactly that. This guide covers choosing the right approach, writing page selections, and checking what you share.

Updated September 2026 · IQ PDF Manager guides

Extract, delete or split?

All three create new files from an existing PDF. Pick by how much you're keeping and how many files you want:

  • Keeping a small part → Extract PDF Pages. Typing 12-15 is quicker than marking 76 pages for deletion.
  • Keeping almost everything → Delete PDF Pages. Marking three unwanted pages is quicker than listing the rest.
  • Needing several separate files → Split PDF.

Writing page selections

Selections use numbers, hyphens for runs, and commas between items:

  • 7 — just page 7
  • 3-6 — pages 3, 4, 5 and 6
  • 1, 4, 9-12 — page 1, page 4, and pages 9 to 12

Numbers are file positions (the counter in your PDF reader), not the numbers printed in the page footer. Ranges run low to high — write 3-6, not 6-3.

Reordering pages while you extract

A useful side effect: the new PDF follows the order you type. That makes extraction the quickest way to fix a document whose pages are out of order.

Example: a 10-page scan where page 6 should have come before page 5. Type 1-4, 6, 5, 7-10 and extract — the new file has the corrected order. To put a signature page at the front, type it first: 10, 1-9.

If you tap page tiles after typing, the selection is re-sorted into ascending order — so type your custom order as the last step.

Extracting forms and signature pages

  • Fill before you extract. Interactive form fields don't always keep working in the extracted copy. Complete and save the form in your PDF software first, then extract the filled pages.
  • Keep context the recipient needs. A signature page often needs the page that identifies the agreement. Check whether the reader will know what they're looking at.

Check what you're sharing

Extraction shares whole pages. Before sending, look at each extracted page as the recipient will:

  • Does it contain other people's details, account numbers or notes that aren't meant for them?
  • If so, extraction isn't enough — you need redaction software that permanently removes that content. Covering text with a black box in a PDF editor isn't the same thing; the text may still be underneath.

The guide to handling sensitive documents covers this in more detail.