Repair PDF attempts to recover a corrupted or damaged file that won't open or throws errors in other viewers, by rebuilding its internal structure from whatever readable data remains.
| You want to… | Use this tool |
|---|---|
| "The file is damaged and could not be repaired" | A broken internal index (xref table) |
| Only some pages open, or pages are blank | An interrupted download or upload |
| "Not a supported file type" | The file may not be a PDF at all |
| A password prompt | Encryption, not damage |
Files that won't open, show errors, or were only partly downloaded.
The file's structure is checked and rebuilt using several recovery methods.
Download the repaired PDF and see which pages were recovered and which couldn't be.
Office staff use the repair PDF tool to open PDFs that show "file is damaged" errors in Adobe Reader and other viewers.
Users repair PDFs corrupted by interrupted downloads, failed cloud syncs, or truncated email attachments.
Developers use the repair PDF tool to clean up PDFs generated by buggy software libraries that produce malformed output.
The tool recovers as much as possible and tells you which pages or objects couldn't be restored.
Common fixes: broken xref tables, malformed objects, missing fonts, truncated streams, invalid encryption metadata, missing trailer dictionary, and corrupted page tree structures.
85-95% on typical corruption (download interrupts, transmission errors). Heavily damaged files (large sections missing) may recover only 50-80% of content.
No. Repair recovers content that exists in the file but is unreadable due to structural damage. Truly deleted content cannot be recovered.
For minor corruption, yes — visual output is identical. For major corruption, some images, fonts, or formatting may be lost during recovery.
5-30 seconds for most files. Heavily damaged PDFs may take 60-90 seconds as multiple recovery strategies are tried.
No. The repair PDF tool fixes structural damage, not removes encryption. Use our Unlock PDF tool for password-protected files (requires the password).
Yes — 30 repair operations per day for guests, more on free accounts. No watermark on output.
The repair PDF tool reports diagnostic findings even when repair fails — sometimes the file structure is too damaged to recover. Contact support for manual analysis on Business plans.
