Repair Corrupted or Damaged PDF Files
Rebuild a corrupted or malformed PDF into a valid, working file.
How to Repair a PDF in 3 Steps
- Upload your damaged PDF. Drag and drop the corrupted or damaged PDF file into the upload area. Even files that do not open correctly in PDF viewers can often be processed.
- Click "Repair PDF". PDFTools uses Ghostscript to rebuild the PDF structure from the ground up, resolving common corruption issues, malformed objects, and structural errors that prevent the file from opening.
- Download the repaired PDF. If repair is successful, download your fixed PDF. The repaired version should now open correctly in Adobe Reader and other PDF viewers.
Why Use PDFTools to Repair PDF?
- Fixes common PDF corruption — Repairs structural errors, malformed cross-reference tables, incomplete file transfers, and other common causes of PDF files that refuse to open.
- Powered by Ghostscript — Uses the industry-standard Ghostscript engine to re-interpret and rebuild the PDF — the same technology used by professional document processing workflows.
- Content recovery where possible — Ghostscript extracts as much readable content as possible from the damaged file, giving you the best chance of recovering your document.
- Free and instant — Repair attempts complete in seconds with no account required. If the PDF is too severely damaged, a clear error message is shown.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of PDF damage can be repaired?
PDFTools can repair PDFs damaged by incomplete downloads, corrupted file transfers, software crashes during saving, and minor file system corruption. Severely damaged files, encrypted files without the password, or files corrupted at the binary level may not be fully recoverable.
What if my PDF cannot be repaired?
If Ghostscript cannot rebuild a valid PDF from the damaged file, you will see an error message. In this case, check if you have a backup copy of the original. If the file was emailed to you, ask the sender to resend it.
Will the repaired PDF look exactly the same as the original?
In most cases, yes. However, if parts of the original file data were genuinely lost or corrupted, some content (images, specific pages) may not be fully recoverable in the repaired version.