PDFs are a popular choice for storing everything from contracts, reports, eBooks and forms. If your PDF becomes unusable, either by showing errors, being damaged or refusing to launch, what do you do then? It is a hassle that can interrupt what you’re trying to do and threaten valuable information unless you fix damaged PDF file.
The good news is that there are ways to repair damaged PDF files, whether you do it manually or use repair tools. This guide will explain the reasons why your PDF could get corrupt, outline how to prepare for a fix, and present several working solutions. If you are a student, have a job, or use PDFs for business, you can easily and safely fix damaged PDF files using these step.
Part 1. Why Your PDF Became Damaged
It is useful to learn the most frequent causes of PDF corruption, before repairing them.
Software crashes and sudden shutdowns are problems.
If a PDF is saved or sent as your system crashes, the result may be a lack of data or problems with the file structure.
A computer can become the infected by viruses and malware.
Sometimes malicious software will mess up the structure of a PDF, so it can no longer be read.
File download or transfer was not completed.
Should your PDF be unsuccessful in downloading or uploading, particularly when things are unstable over the network, it will likely be missing parts.
Failures within Components & Corrupt Data on Drives:
Files on damaged hard drives, USBs, or memory cards can become corrupted if sectors are not accessible.
Part 2. Quick Pre-Repair Checks
First, attempt these easy steps before you use any special tools to fix damaged PDF file. These tools are easy but may clear up the issue or eliminate a larger issue.
- Be sure to save a duplicate before you begin any repairs, to avoid ruining your data.
- At times, Adobe Reader has trouble working, but Foxit Reader, PDF-XChange, or macOS Preview usually manages it successfully.
- Adobe Preflight is designed to detect problems in a document’s structure so you may try that if available.
Following these actions can show if your PDF is damaged or simply has trouble being viewed on certain devices.
Part 3. Top Solution to Repair the PDF File
If you want to repair corrupted PDF documents, we have the top 3 options listed below.
3.1 Built-In Methods
Here are some built-in methods that you can use.
- Adobe Acrobat Save As
In Adobe Acrobat if you use Save As trick, it will generate a fresh copy of your document and chances are that you may bypass corruption.
- Open PDF in the Adobe Acrobat, or click “File”
- Click “Save As” and make a fresh copy of the PDF
- Ghostscript Command Line
If you have technical knowledge, then using this CLI trick can recompile your PDF document here is how to do it.
- Open CMD as admin or Terminal.
- Use the command by replacing your file names: “gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER \” then “-sOutputFile=Repaired.pdf Damaged.pdf”
- Google Drive Preview
Corrupted PDF files can be saved by creating and uploading them to Google Drive like this:
- Open Google Drive, and Upload your corrupted PDF by clicking “+New”.
- Click on PDF thumbnail to open its preview. This way you can check PDF contents and create a clean copy.
3.2 Online Repair Services
If you want to use a simple method without any complex methods or tool installations, then you can opt for online repair.
- PDF2Go
It provides a free basic repair service that will fix minor issues with your PDFs.
- Go to PDF2Go online, and upload your file by clicking “Choose File” and then click “Start”
- Click “Download” once the file is repaired.
- ILovePDF
This online tool offers better safety and has high-performance PDF repairing services to resolve most errors.
- Go to iLovePDF to upload your PDF file by clicking “Select PDF File” and click “Repair PDF”
- Click “Download File” if it does not repair the file automatically.
3.3 Recommended Desktop Tool – 4DDiG Document Repair
When methods 1 and 2 don’t work on a heavily corrupted PDF or if your file is too corrupt, it’s time to use a robust solution. It applies advanced algorithms to examine, repair and restore inside elements, among them, text, images, bookmarks and layout.
Why 4DDiG?
- It can recognize multiple PDF errors and solve them.
- It lets you repair a group of PDF files together in just one step.
- Make sure you have fixed everything first before pressing the save button.
- It manages to correct more than 95% of PDF file damage no matter how severe it is.
How to repair the PDF with 4DDiG – Step By Step
- Open 4DDiG, and click “File Repair” then add PDFs by clicking “Add Files”.
- Click “Repair All” to the begin repairing your files.
- Once repaired, save them with the “Save All” button or check the results with the “Preview” button.
3.4 Alternative Third-Party Software
However, some other tools exist, but they might not have the shine and stability of 4DDiG.
- DataNumen PDF Repair.
Provides smooth recovery and works with a more complicated interface.
- Open the tool, and select PDF file.
- Repair with the “Start Repair” button.
- Stellar Repair for PDF.
If you have many useful choices, still you often have to purchase a license to unlock everything.
- Run Stellar software or click “Add File” to choose your PDF or click “Open”
- Click “Repair” to begin repairing the PDF.
Part 4. Preventing Future PDF Corruption
Follow these tips after you fix a damaged PDF file to keep future problems to a minimum.
- Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive each allow you to restore your data if something happens to create a backup.
- Reliable automatic backups can be created on both Windows and macOS.
- If you use recent updates of PDF editors and viewers, you’ll be compatible with other files and fewer glitches will occur.
- Stay away from editing big PDFs through network drives, because sudden drops in the network can leave your files unfinished.
Part 3. FAQs
Q1: Can I recover data from a completely unreadable PDF?
Yes. Using 4DDiG Document Repair, you can still access the data within difficult-to-read files.
Q2: Is it safe to upload sensitive PDFs to online services?
You should only use such platforms if they remove the files after processing and use end-to-end security measures. To keep your documents safe, use 4DDiG Document Repair offline.
Q3: What to do if the repaired PDF still shows errors?
Open the damaged file with a different reader or give the repair a new try using a different technique. Should the problems continue, sometimes running 4DDiG’s advanced scan can resolve any embedded issues.
Conclusion
Just because a PDF file has problems doesn’t mean your data will be gone. Most of the time, it is possible to fix a damaged PDF file if it is caused by a crash of the software, a disrupted transmission or the presence of malware. Try using your PDF program’s built-in methods or looking up services online for small damages to the file.
4DDiG Document Repair is made to handle serious corruption, with both easy-to-use functionality and strong recovery power.
