PDF requirements for e-filing in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims

What the court requires

The court's CM/ECF FAQ states the current PDF size limit is 200 MB per file. Very large administrative records may still need to be split or optimized before upload; the FAQ recommends reducing file size first.

Common reasons filings are rejected

• An administrative record or exhibit is over 200 MB as one file.
• Uploads time out on slow connections when files are near the limit; splitting into smaller parts helps.
• The PDF is password-protected or has security restrictions, so the court's system can't open it.

Questions about the Court of Federal Claims's PDF rules

What is the maximum PDF file size for the Court of Federal Claims?

200 MB per PDF.

What should I do if my PDF is too large for the Court of Federal Claims?

Split it into consecutive parts that are each under 200 MB, never cutting a page in half, and file the first part as the main document and the rest as attachments named in order (for example "Exhibit A, Part 2 of 3"). For scanned documents, re-scanning in black and white at 300 dpi often shrinks the file enough to avoid splitting. Docket Prime can split the file for you in your browser.

Does the Court of Federal Claims require text-searchable PDFs?

The published rules we found don't require it. Documents saved directly from a word processor are searchable and much smaller than scans; for paper documents, OCR adds searchable text.

What page size does the Court of Federal Claims accept?

Letter size (8.5 × 11 inches) is expected. Legal-size or A4 pages may print badly or be refused, so resize them to letter.