Repair or recover a damaged PDF
Repair a PDF by rewriting a file that still opens or recovering pages the browser can render. Inspect the downloaded copy to check what survived. Free to use, with no sign-up required.
Files processed on your device01 How it works
- Choose a PDF that still opens or renders.
- Rebuild its structure or visible pages.
- Download and inspect every page.
02 Good to know
A structural rewrite keeps selectable content when it succeeds. If that fails, the tool rebuilds renderable pages as images and loses selectable text, links, forms, and metadata. Missing bytes or unreadable pages cannot be recovered.
03Try rebuilding a readable PDF
Choose a damaged PDF that still opens or whose pages can render. The tool first attempts a structural rewrite that can retain selectable content when it succeeds.
If structural repair fails, the tool can rebuild renderable pages as images. This fallback may recover visible pages, but it loses selectable text, links, forms, and metadata.
04What repair cannot restore
A repair tool can only work with data still present and readable in the file. Missing bytes or pages that cannot be read or rendered cannot be recreated from the damaged file.
Keep the original file and try another copy or backup if important pages are missing. A rebuilt output is not proof that every original object or feature survived.
05Check the repaired file
Open the downloaded PDF and inspect every page. Check page count, text selection, links, form fields, and metadata, since the fallback image version has different capabilities from a successful structural rewrite.
If the document opens but scanned text is not searchable, use OCR PDF on the recovered pages.
06 Questions
Can a damaged PDF always be repaired?
No. The file must still contain readable data. Missing bytes or unreadable pages cannot be recovered.
Will repaired text stay selectable?
A successful structural rewrite can retain selectable content. If the tool falls back to page images, text is no longer selectable.
What should I check after repair?
Open the output and inspect each page, page count, text selection, links, forms, and metadata.