PDF requirements for e-filing in the Florida state courts (Florida Courts E-Filing Portal)

What the court requires

The limit is 50 MB per document and 50 MB for everything in one filing (envelope). All Florida trial and appellate courts accept filings through the statewide Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. Everything submitted in one filing must fit within 50 MB together, so a document near the limit has to be filed on its own. Documents that are also e-served through the portal are e-mailed to the other parties, and the portal limits those attachments separately.

“If a document exceeds 50 MB, it must be broken in parts and filed in separate transactions as an addendum with a memo or cover sheet indicating that it is a continuation of the other filing.”

Common reasons filings are rejected

• The documents in one submission add up to more than 50 MB.
• A continuation filing is not labeled as part of the earlier filing.
• The PDF is password-protected or has security restrictions.
• The PDF is password-protected or has security restrictions, so the court's system can't open it.

Questions about the Florida state courts's PDF rules

What is the maximum PDF file size for the Florida state courts?

50 MB per PDF. All files in one filing together may not exceed 50 MB.

What should I do if my PDF is too large for the Florida state courts?

Split it into consecutive parts that are each under 50 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 Florida state courts require text-searchable PDFs?

It is recommended. 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 Florida state courts 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.