Repair and Recover Corrupted PDF Files
To repair a corrupted PDF, upload the file and PurePDF rebuilds its structure — damaged cross-reference tables, truncated sections, and structural errors that stop the file from opening. Repair runs in your browser. If the source itself is missing bytes, recoverable pages are salvaged.
Fix corrupt or broken PDF files quickly and securely in your browser.
Drop a broken PDF file here, or click below to repair it.
Runs in your browser · file never uploaded
This tool runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your file is never uploaded — it stays on your device from start to finish.
Full detail in our privacy policy.
At a glance
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Uploaded to any server
Free
No account required
None
Watermarks on your output
Start in 3 easy steps
A quick visual tour of the private PurePDF workflow.
Upload corrupted file
Select the PDF that will not open.
Click Repair
We rebuild the document structure and recover every readable page.
Download fixed file
Save the recovered PDF to your device.
Built for everyday PDF work
Fast, clear, and built around local browser processing.
Clean workspace
Upload first, then finish the task in a focused workspace page.
No software needed
Skip installs, subscriptions, and account creation — open the page and start.
Ghostscript recovery
Rebuilds the cross-reference table and skips unreadable objects to salvage what survives.
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Frequently
Asked
Questions
Quick answers about this PurePDF workflow.
Is the PDF repair tool free?
Yes. Repairing corrupted PDFs is completely free.
Do my files get uploaded to a server?
No. Repair runs in your browser — your document never leaves your device.
What kinds of corruption can be fixed?
Damaged cross-reference tables, truncated files, and structural errors that stop a PDF from opening. Heavily damaged content streams may not be recoverable.
Why does my PDF say it is damaged?
Interrupted downloads, email corruption, and faulty generators are the most common causes. Repair rebuilds the file structure so readers can open it.
Will repaired files keep their content?
Yes — everything recoverable is preserved. If some objects are damaged beyond repair, the tool salvages the remaining pages.
What if the repair fails?
Try re-downloading the original file first; if the source itself is truncated, no tool can restore the missing bytes.
How to repair a corrupted PDF that will not open
What “this file is damaged” actually means
A PDF is a structured file: an index near the end, called the cross-reference table, tells a reader where every page, font, and image lives inside the file. When that index is wrong or missing, a reader cannot find anything, even if every page is still physically inside the file. That is why a PDF can be almost entirely intact and still refuse to open.
The usual causes are ordinary: a download interrupted halfway, an email system that truncated an attachment, a sync client that saved a partial copy, or software that wrote a malformed file in the first place.
What Repair PDF can fix
Repair rebuilds the document structure from the objects that are still readable and writes a clean file around them. It handles the common failure modes:
- Damaged or missing cross-reference tables.
- Files truncated at the end by an interrupted transfer.
- Structural errors that make readers report the file as damaged or corrupt.
What cannot be recovered
Repair can only work with the bytes that are present. If a file was cut off halfway through, the pages stored in the missing half are gone, and no tool can reconstruct them. Heavily damaged content streams may also be unrecoverable. In those cases the tool salvages the pages it can and returns them as a working PDF.
Before assuming a file is lost, try downloading it again from the original source. A fresh copy is often intact, and repairing a clean original always beats repairing a truncated one.
Private by design
Damaged files are often important ones: a contract that arrived broken, a tax document, a thesis draft. Repair runs in your browser, so the file is not uploaded to a server. The repaired PDF is generated on your device and downloaded directly.
After the repair
Open the repaired file in a reader and check every page. If you need the document for long-term storage, converting it to PDF/A embeds fonts and removes external dependencies so it stays readable in the future. If the repaired file is unexpectedly large, Compress PDF can shrink it for sharing.
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