If you can't open a PDF, it might be corrupted. What is Data Corruption and How to Prevent It What is Data Corruption and How to Prevent It Data corruption is more common than you might think, and it could happen to you when you least expect it! Heed these tips before it's too much! afternoon! Read more . If you haven't backed up your data, discovering a corrupted file can be a nightmare. We will help you fix your PDF through Windows tools and techniques.
It may be possible to completely repair the entire PDF, restoring it to its original state, or you can just extract elements and rebuild the rest. Anything you can get, right??
After reviewing these tips, please hit the comments section at the bottom to let us know if you've ever experienced PDF corruption and how you managed to resolve it.
Are you sure the problem is with the PDF file? Instead, it could be that the program you are using to view the PDF is playing.
The most common PDF viewer is Adobe Acrobat Reader. That's not necessarily because Adobe offers the best program. That's why you don't need Adobe Reader. That's why you don't need Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader is bloated, slow, and a liability. In short, it is unnecessary. Do you need a PDF reader at all? Here's how to open PDF files without Adobe Reader. Read More The PDF file type was created by Adobe in the 1990s and became an open standard in 2008. If you're using Adobe Acrobat Reader, let's do a quick troubleshooting.
First, verify that the program is running the latest version by launching it and going to Help> Check for updates . They will tell you that the program is up to date or that there are updates to install. If there are, go ahead and install them. Try to open your PDF now.
If that doesn't work, keep Adobe Acrobat Reader open and navigate to Help> Repair Installation . It may be that the files that the program is based on have become corrupted and this method will attempt to patch them.
Still no luck? Press Windows key + I and click Applications . Search Adobe Acrobat reader , click the list and click Uninstall . Then go to the Adobe website to download and install the latest version. If your PDF still won't open after this, we can safely rule out that the Adobe program is the problem.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is by no means the only option for viewing PDF files. It's worth trying a different program to see if it's capable of opening the PDF.
In the past, we've rounded up alternative lightweight PDF readers 4 Very Lightweight Alternatives to Adobe Reader 4 Very Lightweight Alternatives to Adobe Reader Still using Adobe Reader for PDF documents? It's time to move on to an alternative PDF reader that's lightweight, starts up quickly, while keeping your documents saved. Read More Two of the best options, and both free, are Foxit Reader and Sumatra PDF. Download these and give them a try with your PDF.
It is also possible that Okular and Evince can read your PDF file when other programs cannot. This is because they use a different rendering method to display PDF files.
If you're still having problems, it's time to start focusing on repairing the PDF file or at least scraping it for saving.
We previously wrote about corruption with Office files Access and Recover Corrupt Office Files with These Tips Access and Recover Corrupt Office Files with These Tips Is your important document corrupted and you don't have a backup? Not everything is lost! You can try to repair the file or find a backup that you didn't know you had. Read More
If your PDF used to work and has become corrupted, you can try to restore a previous version. Windows 10 has a built-in backup facility that might help. It can be accessed by pressing Windows Key + I and navigating to Update and security> Backup.
If you haven't been using the Backup feature, then you can't retroactively use it to restore your PDF. However, it might be wise to enable it now. You can learn more about this and more in our latest Windows 10 backup guide. Use our simple tips and never despair over lost data again! Read more.
If you have enabled it, you can try using the File History feature to revert your PDF to a previous version. To do this, open File Explorer and navigate to your PDF. Right mouse button and click Restore Previous Versions .
This will display a list of all previous versions of the file that are within your backup. You can Open The copies to review them and then use the Restore button to bring them back to life.
A similar technique would be to use a data recovery program. What is data recovery and how does it work? What is data recovery and how does it work? If you've ever experienced a major data loss, you've probably wondered about data recovery:how does it work? Read More If you had an old copy of the PDF file that you deleted, this technique might be fruitful.
There are applications out there that will try to repair your PDF. Some of these do not require any software to be downloaded and can be run in the browser, such as PDFaid, Repair PDF and PDF Tools Online. Give everyone a chance, but if the corruption is severe, they may not be able to help.
You can also try specialized file repair programs like FileRepair1. This will scan the PDF, identify the error, and fix what it can. It is not always successful in all cases, but it can be useful for you.
If you can't repair the entire PDF, you may still be able to extract things like text and images.
For text, you can use programs that will convert your PDF to a Word file and allow you to output the text that way. However, I find that one of the best tools is the online PDF to Word Converter app offered by Nitro; Though some characters may seem a bit wacky depending on the type of corruption.
If your PDF contains images, try following our guide on how to extract images from a PDF How to extract images from a PDF and use them anywhere How to extract images from a PDF and use them PDF files can be containers for embedded images. We show you how to extract images from a PDF file and save them to your desktop. Read more . Again, this can have variable results depending on the level of corruption, but it's definitely worth seeing what you can dig out.
Hopefully these methods have been helpful in saving your PDF. You may not have been able to recover everything (as is the ruin of the corruption), but you may have at least saved elements of the file.
Remember, you should always have a stable Windows backup plan The Windows Backup and Restore Guide The Windows Backup and Restore Guide Disasters happen. Unless you're willing to lose your data, you need a good Windows backup routine. We'll show you how to prepare backups and restore them. Read More You always have a secondary copy to restore from.
