Repair Corrupted PDF — Free Recovery Tool
Try to fix a PDF that won't open, shows an error, or didn't download completely, with two automatic levels of recovery.
If a PDF won't open, throws an error, or arrived incomplete, you can try repairing it here. Recovery works on two levels: the tool first repairs the file's structure, and if the damage is severe, it rebuilds the content by recreating each page from an image — automatically.
How to repair a PDF (3 steps)
- Open the PDF that won't open or is damaged.
- Click Repair. The tool chooses the right recovery method for you.
- Download the recovered file.
How recovery works
The tool tries several methods in order and stops as soon as one succeeds.
- Level 1: structure repair — strips junk data from the start of the file or a damaged ending, then rewrites the whole file. If this works, the text can still be searched and copied as before.
- Level 2: image recovery — if the structure is badly damaged, every page that can still be read is drawn as an image and assembled into a new file. You get the content back, but the text can't be searched. If you need the text, use OCR to read it out.
Try these first
- If the file came from an email or a website, download it again. An incomplete download is the most common cause.
- Try opening it in a different program, such as Chrome or Edge. Sometimes the problem is the viewer, not the file.
- If the file is password-protected, use Unlock PDF instead of this tool.
Limitations
Files that have lost a lot of data, or that aren't really PDFs (for example, another file type renamed to .pdf), may be only partly recoverable or not recoverable at all. The tool tells you the result either way, and your original file is never modified.
FAQ
Can every file be repaired?
Most files with a broken structure or an incomplete download can be recovered. Files that have lost a lot of their content may recover partially or not at all.
What causes a PDF to become corrupted?
A download that was cut off, a problem with an email attachment, a full disk while saving, or a program that wrote the file incorrectly.
Is it safe for confidential files?
Yes. The repair runs entirely in your browser and the file is not uploaded to a server.
How long does it take?
Usually a few seconds. If image recovery is needed, pages are drawn one at a time, so long files take longer.
It still won't open after repair. What now?
Ask the sender for a new copy, or, if you have the original Word or Excel file, convert it to PDF again for the most complete result.
📖 Full guide: Repair a corrupted PDF that will not open