Repair a damaged PDF
A PDF that won't open is often just structurally scrambled — the health check names what's wrong in plain words, and Repair rewrites the file front to back into a clean copy.
Runs in your browser · Your file is never uploaded · No account needed
How to repair a damaged PDF
- Choose the PDF — even one that won't open anywhere else.
- Read the health report: Healthy, Minor issues, Damaged, Locked or Unreadable.
- If it's locked, enter the password to check inside.
- Repair & Save — the rebuilt copy downloads immediately.
What you get
- A plain-words health report, not a wall of error codes.
- Full structural rewrite: fresh page index, cleaned-up objects.
- Handles locked files — unlock, re-check and repair in one place.
- Healthy files can be cleaned and re-saved too.
- The damaged file is never uploaded — recovery runs on your device.
When you would use it
A download that cut off halfway
An interrupted transfer truncates the file's index — a rebuild usually brings the pages back.
A PDF your reader refuses to open
The health check names the actual problem in plain words before you decide what to do.
A locked file that also seems broken
Enter the password, re-check, and save a repaired copy.
Why it stays on your device
Most online PDF sites upload your document to a server, process it there and email you a link. This one does not. The PDF is opened, changed and saved by your own browser, so a contract, a bank statement or an ID scan never travels over the network — and the tool keeps working on a slow connection.
Questions
Can every broken PDF be repaired?
No tool can promise that. If the damage is structural — a broken page index, trailing garbage, bad offsets — a rebuild usually works. If the actual page data is missing, there is nothing left to rebuild, and the report says so honestly.
Why won't my PDF open in the first place?
The most common cause is an interrupted download or email transfer that cut the file short, followed by buggy generators writing a slightly wrong structure.
Is the repaired file identical to the original?
The pages and their content are copied as they are; what changes is the file's internal skeleton, which is rebuilt from scratch.
Is my broken file uploaded for repair?
No — the check and the rebuild both run inside your browser.
How do I fix a corrupted PDF online free?
Choose the file here — it is checked and rebuilt by your own browser, so the damaged document is never uploaded anywhere.
The repair failed — is the file gone?
If the rebuild reports that too much is missing, the page data itself is absent from the file. Try re-downloading or re-exporting the original — repair can fix structure, but it cannot invent content.
Related tools
All tools: Split PDF Merge PDF Compress PDF Edit PDF Crop PDF Watermark Organize pages Create PDF Page numbers Redact / Censor Get text PDF viewer PDF to Office Translate PDF Protect PDF Sign PDF Word to PDF
Get Repair PDF on your device
The same tool, three ways — and offline on Windows and Android, so a document never needs a connection at all.
Prefer a page first? About the Windows app · About the Android app