Why Browser-Based Tools Are Safer for Your Files
When you use a typical "free online converter", your file is uploaded to someone else's server, processed there, and (hopefully) deleted afterwards. For a meme, who cares. For a contract, a payslip or medical records, that's a real privacy risk.
What "client-side" actually means
Client-side (or browser-based) tools do all the work on your own device, using the processing power your browser already has. Your file is opened, transformed and saved without ever being sent over the internet.
Every tool on this site works this way. When you merge a PDF, compress an image or password-protect a document, the file never leaves your computer.
Why this is better
- Privacy: confidential documents stay confidential. There's no server copy to leak or subpoena.
- Speed: no upload and download round-trip — big files process instantly.
- Offline-friendly: once a page is loaded, many tools keep working without a connection.
- No limits: there's no server bandwidth to ration, so you can process as many files as your device can handle.
The one exception, and how we handle it
Two things genuinely need the network: sending a message through our contact form, and downloading the one-time recognition engine for OCR. Even then, your documents stay local — only the OCR engine itself is fetched.
How to tell if a tool uploads your files
Open your browser's network tab and watch what happens when you process a file. With a client-side tool, you'll see the file loaded locally and… nothing sent out. That's the whole point.
Bottom line: for anything you wouldn't post publicly, prefer tools that process files in your browser. Your documents are yours.