Court e-filing PDF rules: size limits, searchable text, PDF/A and bookmarks
What 50 court e-filing systems ask of a PDF — the size limit, searchable text, PDF/A, scan resolution, bookmarks and security — each read from the court’s own rules or help page, with the date we checked it. Under each rule is the tool that meets it.
50 courts and e-filing systems · last checked October 18, 2026
Find your court, read its rules, and use the link under any rule your file does not meet yet. Your file is never uploaded.
Federal CM/ECF, U.S. Tax Court and New York Appellate Division limits are listed in our PDF upload size limits table.
Find your court
State trial courts and statewide e-filing systems
- Arkansas courts (eFlex)
- California superior courts
- Connecticut Superior Court (e-filing)
- Florida trial courts (Florida Courts E-Filing Portal)
- Idaho courts (iCourt e-filing)
- Illinois circuit courts (eFileIL)
- Michigan courts (MiFILE)
- New Mexico Third Judicial District Court
- New Mexico Thirteenth Judicial District Court
- New York State courts (NYSCEF)
- North Carolina eCourts (File & Serve)
- Oklahoma courts (UOCMS e-filing)
- Oregon circuit courts (OJD eFile)
- Pennsylvania courts (PACFile)
- Texas courts (eFileTexas)
- Washington courts of limited jurisdiction (Odyssey File & Serve)
- Wisconsin circuit courts (eFiling)
State supreme and appellate courts
- California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal
- Florida Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal (E-Filing Portal)
- Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court (eFileIL)
- North Dakota Supreme Court e-filing
- Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (briefs)
- Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (eFiling)
Federal district courts (CM/ECF)
- Arizona
- California — Central District
- California — Northern District
- Delaware
- Florida — Middle District
- Florida — Southern District
- Illinois — Northern District
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New York — Southern District
- Pennsylvania — Eastern District
- Texas — Southern District
- Virginia — Eastern District
- Washington — Western District
U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals
Federal bankruptcy courts
State trial courts and statewide e-filing systems
Arkansas courts (eFlex)
Arkansas
- Scan resolution
- Black-and-white 300 dpi scans keep pages at about 25–40 KB
- Also required
- Split a larger document into smaller files and attach the parts to it.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Arkansas eFlex — Preparing documentsChecked October 18, 2026
California superior courts
California
- File size limit
- Set by each court and e-filing provider — the statewide rules give no number
- Compress to an exact size
- Searchable text
- Required when technologically feasible without impairing the document’s image (rule 2.256(b)(3))
- Make scans searchable
- Bookmarks
- Electronic exhibits need a bookmark to the first page of each exhibit, titled with its number or letter and a short description (rule 3.1110(f)(4)); self-represented parties are exempt
- Add or edit bookmarks
- Also required
- Printing must not lose text, format or appearance (rule 2.256(b)(2)).
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Scan resolution, Passwords and security.
California Rules of Court, rule 2.256California Rules of Court, rule 3.1110Checked October 18, 2026
Connecticut Superior Court (e-filing)
Connecticut
- Scan resolution
- Do not scan in color or use colored paper
- Also required
- PDF documents only.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Connecticut Judicial Branch — E-filing FAQs for self-represented partiesChecked October 18, 2026
Florida trial courts (Florida Courts E-Filing Portal)
Florida
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white
- Also required
- Letter-size portrait pages, 1-inch margins. Split a larger document into parts under 50 MB and file them as Part 1 of 3, Part 2 of 3 and so on.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks.
Florida Courts E-Filing Authority — FAQsChecked October 18, 2026
Idaho courts (iCourt e-filing)
Idaho
- File size limit
- 50 MB per document; larger documents go in separate files of up to 50 MB each
- Compress to 47.5 MB
- Searchable text
- Required: text-searchable PDF or PDF/A, converted directly rather than scanned when possible
- Make scans searchable
- Also required
- Identify each part of a split document in the “Comments to Court” field.
Not stated by this source: Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Idaho Rules for Electronic Filing and Service, Rule 6Checked October 18, 2026
Illinois circuit courts (eFileIL)
Illinois
- Searchable text
- OCR text, when possible; create the PDF from the word processor rather than a scan
- Make scans searchable
- Scan resolution
- 300–600 dpi, black and white
- Also required
- Each document must be its own PDF — several documents combined into one PDF are rejected. Letter-size pages, 12 pt type, 2-inch top margin on the first page.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks.
eFileIL Electronic Document Standards (rev. Feb 2, 2022)Checked October 18, 2026
Michigan courts (MiFILE)
Michigan
- Also required
- Also accepts Word, plain text, RTF and scanned TIFF, JPG or PNG images.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
MiFILE — Filer FAQChecked October 18, 2026
New Mexico Third Judicial District Court
New Mexico
- Also required
- With the assigned judge’s prior written approval, a filing may be split into several transmissions of up to 35 MB each.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks.
New Mexico local rule LR3-106 (January 2026)Checked October 18, 2026
New Mexico Thirteenth Judicial District Court
New Mexico
- Also required
- Divide a larger document into logical segments filed in the same envelope, each understandable on its own.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Thirteenth Judicial District — Electronic filing user guideChecked October 18, 2026
New York State courts (NYSCEF)
New York
- File size limit
- Not stated on the NYSCEF requirements page (the Appellate Division sets 100 MB per document)
- Compress to an exact size
- Searchable text
- Required for documents made from a word processor; check before uploading
- Make scans searchable
- Scan resolution
- 200 dpi
- Passwords and security
- No password protection or encryption; no JavaScript or open-action tags
- Remove a password
- Also required
- Flatten multi-layer PDFs; 1-inch margins; avoid long file names.
Not stated by this source: Bookmarks.
NYSCEF — RequirementsChecked October 18, 2026
North Carolina eCourts (File & Serve)
North Carolina
- Also required
- Attach a PDF — File & Serve does not convert documents to PDF.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
North Carolina Judicial Branch — eCourts FAQs for attorneys: eFilingChecked October 18, 2026
Oklahoma courts (UOCMS e-filing)
Oklahoma
- Also required
- A 2-inch top margin on page one for the electronic file stamp. Split anything larger into separate e-documents.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Oklahoma — Electronic Filing Technical StandardsChecked October 18, 2026
Oregon circuit courts (OJD eFile)
Oregon
- Also required
- Submit a document and its exhibits as one PDF; split anything over 50 MB into separate documents in the same envelope. Internal links are fine; avoid external links.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Oregon Judicial Department — OJD eFileChecked October 18, 2026
Pennsylvania courts (PACFile)
Pennsylvania
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi black and white, 200 dpi color
- Also required
- Embed any font that is not on PACFile’s accepted list; black text on white pages; one filing type per file.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks.
PACFile — Electronic document requirementsChecked October 18, 2026
Texas courts (eFileTexas)
Texas
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi
- Bookmarks
- An appellate court may require several PDFs combined into one, separated by bookmarks
- Add or edit bookmarks
- Passwords and security
- No password, encryption or feature restrictions; no embedded audio, video or code
- Remove a password
- Also required
- Each document is a single PDF — no PDF portfolios or PDFs inside PDFs. File names: letters and numbers only, up to 50 characters.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A.
Texas Judicial Branch — Technology Standards v11.0 (June 2026)Checked October 18, 2026
Washington courts of limited jurisdiction (Odyssey File & Serve)
Washington
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi for scanned documents
- Passwords and security
- No embedded video, audio or programming; nothing that stops the court from viewing the document
- Remove a password
- Also required
- PDF only, one PDF per document, letter-size pages; file names up to 50 characters without & * # @.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A.
Washington Courts — CLJ-CMS eFile code and technical standards (June 2021)Checked October 18, 2026
Wisconsin circuit courts (eFiling)
Wisconsin
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white; maps and photos may be in color
- Passwords and security
- Remove JavaScript, macros, document security and digital signatures (flatten active content)
- Remove a password
- Also required
- Maximum page size 12 × 18 inches; 12-point font; no footers unless absolutely necessary.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks.
Wisconsin Court System — Circuit court eFiling requirementsChecked October 18, 2026
State supreme and appellate courts
California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal
California
- Searchable text
- Required, keeping the original formatting; a document may be scanned only when it cannot practicably be converted
- Make scans searchable
- Bookmarks
- Required: a bookmark to every heading, subheading and component — tables, declarations, proof of service, each exhibit — describing what it links to
- Add or edit bookmarks
- Also required
- A filing split into several files needs a master index and a cover page for each file. Page numbers start on the first page.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Scan resolution, Passwords and security.
California Rules of Court, rule 8.74Second District Court of Appeal — Electronic formatting requirementsChecked October 18, 2026
Florida Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal (E-Filing Portal)
Florida
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white
- Also required
- Letter-size portrait pages, 1-inch margins. Split a larger document into parts under 200 MB, filed as numbered parts.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks.
Florida Courts E-Filing Authority — FAQsChecked October 18, 2026
Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court (eFileIL)
Illinois
- Scan resolution
- 300–600 dpi, black and white
- Also required
- Supreme Court: combine an appendix with its document in one file unless the result would exceed 150 MB.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks.
eFileIL Electronic Document Standards (rev. Feb 2, 2022)Illinois Supreme Court — eFileIL policy and user manualChecked October 18, 2026
North Dakota Supreme Court e-filing
North Dakota
- Scan resolution
- Scan or convert in black and white — color and grayscale make files much larger
- Also required
- Up to five documents per upload. If a document is still too large, it may be emailed to the clerk.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
North Dakota Court System — Tips on e-Filing in the Supreme CourtChecked October 18, 2026
Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (briefs)
Oregon
- File size limit
- Briefs must be under 25 MB; if that is impossible, file a letter asking to accept two PDFs
- Compress to an exact size
- Scan resolution
- Lower the resolution to reduce size
- Also required
- File the letter separately but at the same time as the brief. Flattening the combined brief makes it smaller.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Oregon Judicial Department — Briefs: sample briefs and motionsChecked October 18, 2026
Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (eFiling)
Wisconsin
- File size limit
- Split documents larger than 20 MB before uploading; do not split appendixes
- Compress to 19 MB
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white
- Passwords and security
- Remove JavaScript, macros, document security and digital signatures (active content)
- Remove a password
- Also required
- Letter-size pages with a blank ½-inch top margin and a 2 × 2-inch square at the top right of page one; standard fonts.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Bookmarks.
Wisconsin Court System — Appellate eFiling requirementsChecked October 18, 2026
Federal district courts (CM/ECF)
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of Arizona — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Central District of California (CM/ECF)
United States — federal
- Also required
- One document, or one part of a document, per file. Larger files must be divided into sub-volumes. Each federal district sets its own CM/ECF limit — check your court.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
C.D. Cal. — PDF file size limit increase in CM/ECFChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Northern District of California — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, District of Delaware
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of Delaware — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Middle District of Florida — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
United States — federal
- Also required
- Divide a larger file into logical sections, each under the limit.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Southern District of Florida — “over 50 Megabytes” FAQChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Northern District of Illinois — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of Maryland — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of Massachusetts — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of New Jersey — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Southern District of New York — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Eastern District of Pennsylvania — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Southern District of Texas — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Eastern District of Virginia — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Western District of Washington — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals
Supreme Court of the United States
United States — federal
- Searchable text
- Should be created from a word processor and be text-searchable; appendix items may be scanned when no word-processing version exists
- Make scans searchable
- Also required
- Split a document over 100 MB into parts, each under the limit. Signed letters, word-count certificates and proofs of service need no physical signature in the electronic version.
Not stated by this source: Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Supreme Court — Electronic Filing Guidelines (March 2026)Checked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States — federal
- Also required
- Divide an oversized PDF; an appendix that cannot fit must be submitted as one PDF on CD or DVD (Local Rule 25.1(j)(3)).
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Second Circuit — Dividing an oversized PDFChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States — federal
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white, for scanned appendix material
- Also required
- Create PDFs from the word processor (Print to PDF / Save as PDF) where possible.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Third Circuit — CM/ECF frequently asked questionsChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States — federal
- Searchable text
- Text PDFs whenever possible; all formal briefs must be text-searchable
- Make scans searchable
- Scan resolution
- 300 dpi, black and white, when a paper document has to be scanned
- Also required
- Split larger documents into separately identified files.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Fourth Circuit — CM/ECF user manualChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States — federal
- File size limit
- No single attachment over 100 MB; divide larger ones into sub-volumes
- Compress to 95 MB
- Searchable text
- Generate the PDF from the original word-processing file so it can be searched and copied; exhibits may be scanned when no electronic version exists
- Make scans searchable
- Also required
- The rule text carries the revision note “Rev. 7/1/13, 12/1/19”.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Ninth Circuit Rules — Circuit Rule 25-5Checked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States — federal
- Passwords and security
- No encrypted or password-protected PDFs, or PDFs with security settings enabled
- Remove a password
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Also required.
Tenth Circuit — ECF tips and hintsChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
United States — federal
- Passwords and security
- No encryption, embedded comments, scripts, links, form fields or executables — flatten the PDF
- Remove a password
- Also required
- Divide larger documents into smaller PDFs.
Not stated by this source: PDF/A, Scan resolution, Bookmarks.
Federal Circuit — Electronic Filing ProceduresChecked October 18, 2026
Federal bankruptcy courts
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Central District of California (bankruptcy) — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of Delaware (bankruptcy) — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
District of New Jersey (bankruptcy) — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Southern District of New York (bankruptcy) — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas
United States — federal
- Also required
- Read from the court’s CM/ECF Court Information page, which lists the system’s current setting.
Not stated by this source: Searchable text, Scan resolution, Bookmarks, Passwords and security.
Southern District of Texas (bankruptcy) — CM/ECF Court InformationChecked October 18, 2026
Tools that meet each rule
Each tool is labeled with the rule it answers. For a hard size limit, go straight to Compress to an exact size.
- For: File size limitCompress PDFMake a heavy file small enough to email, without wrecking it.
- For: File size limitSplit by sizeBreak one PDF into parts that each stay under a size you pick.
- For: Searchable textOCR PDFMake a scanned PDF searchable.
- For: PDF/AConvert a PDF to PDF/AThe archival format — and an honest list of what still blocks it.
- For: PDF/AValidate PDF/AFind out why an archive submission was rejected.
- For: BookmarksEdit bookmarksAdd, rename, reorder or remove the bookmarks in a PDF.
- For: Passwords and securityUnlock PDFRemove a password from a file you already have the password for.
- For: Also requiredFlatten PDFBake form fields into the page so no one can change them.
Cite or reuse this table
Writing a filing guide, a law library page or a help desk answer? Use the table freely under CC BY 4.0: credit DocuGrip and link to this page. The CSV and JSON files carry every field and its official source.
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Questions
- Is my court missing?
- We add a court only after reading its own rules or help page. Local rules and individual judges can add requirements on top of a statewide system, so check the court’s local rules before filing.
- What does “Not stated” mean?
- The official source we read does not address that point. It does not mean anything is allowed — a clerk can still reject a filing for a reason that is written elsewhere.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. It is an independent summary of published court rules, kept with links so you can read each one yourself. DocuGrip is not affiliated with any court.
A rule changed, or your court is missing? Tell us and we will check the official source.