Quick Diagnosis:

What's happening with your PDF?

• 🚫 Won't open at all → Try Method 1 or Method 4

• 📄 Opens but pages are blank → Try Method 2 or Method 6

• 🔣 Text is garbled/scrambled → Try Method 4 or Method 5

• 📑 Only some pages work → Try Method 5 or Method 6

• 💾 Error when saving → Try Method 6

• 💥 Reader crashes → Try Method 2

6 Recovery Methods (Try In Order):

Method 1: Re-download or Request Again

Success Rate: 70% • Time: 1 minute

1. If downloaded from a website, go back and download again

2. If received via email, ask the sender to resend

3. Use a stable internet connection

4. Save directly to your hard drive, not cloud folder

Method 2: Try a Different PDF Reader

Success Rate: 50% • Time: 2 minutes

1. Right-click the PDF file

2. Select "Open with"

3. Choose a different reader than your default

4. Try: Adobe Reader, Foxit, Chrome, Edge, SumatraPDF

Method 3: Restore Previous Version

Success Rate: 40% • Time: 2 minutes

Windows:

1. Right-click the corrupted PDF

2. Select "Properties"

3. Click "Previous Versions" tab

4. Select an earlier version → Click "Restore"

Mac:

1. Open Time Machine

2. Navigate to the file location

3. Select a previous version → Click "Restore"

Method 4: Use Online PDF Repair Tool

Success Rate: 60% • Time: 3 minutes

1. Go to iLovePDF.com/repair-pdf

2. Upload your corrupted PDF

3. Wait for analysis and repair

4. Download the repaired file

⚠️ Note: Don't upload sensitive documents to online tools

Method 5: Adobe Acrobat Repair

Success Rate: 55% • Time: 5 minutes

1. Open Adobe Acrobat (full version)

2. Go to File → Open → Select corrupted PDF

3. If it opens partially: File → Save As → Optimized PDF

4. In PDF Optimizer, click "Audit Space Usage"

5. Check for errors and attempt repair

Method 6: Print to New PDF

Success Rate: 45% • Time: 3 minutes

1. Open the corrupted PDF (even if it displays incorrectly)

2. Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac)

3. Select "Microsoft Print to PDF" as printer

4. Save as a new file with different name

5. The new PDF may be free of corruption

Interactive Recovery Tool:

Use our step-by-step interactive tool to diagnose and recover your corrupted PDF:

BUTTON: Launch Recovery Tool

Why PDFs Get Corrupted:

• Incomplete or interrupted downloads

• Network connection dropped during transfer

• Storage device failures or bad sectors

• Software crashes while editing

• Email attachment transmission errors

• Virus or malware infections

Prevention Tips:

✓ Wait for downloads to complete fully ✓ Use stable internet connections ✓ Keep backup copies of important PDFs ✓ Don't force-close programs while saving ✓ Scan email attachments for viruses ✓ Avoid editing with incompatible software

Recommended Tools:

• iLovePDF - Free online repair (ilovepdf.com/repair-pdf)

• Smallpdf - Repair & convert (smallpdf.com)

• Adobe Acrobat Reader - Free reader with repair features

• Foxit Reader - Lightweight alternative

• SumatraPDF - Fast, minimal viewer

Still Can't Recover Your PDF?

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