Universal lossless shortening is impossible

Fix $n\ge 1$. There is no injective function from all length-$n$ binary strings to binary strings of length strictly less than $n$. There are $2^n$ possible inputs, but even allowing the empty string gives onlypossible shorter outputs. The finite geometric series and pigeonhole principle leave at least two inputs sharing an output, which prevents exact decoding. For $n=3$, eight inputs compete for the empty string and the six strings 0, 1, 00, 01, 10, 11.

This counting argument includes any file header or other information sent to the decoder. An algorithm chosen separately for each input must also be identified to the receiver; its description is not free. A useful compressor saves space on some inputs while leaving others unchanged or making them longer. Lossy compression avoids the exact-recovery requirement by deliberately allowing several inputs to share an output.