The Only File Repair Tool You Will Ever Need: How To Repair Corrupted PDFs And More

Anyone who has ever worked with PDFs knows this one all too well – the notorious “There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired.” error that sends chills down the viewer’s spine. The error states the file could not be repaired. We are doomed, right? Hardly! Today we will show you how to quickly repair PDFs or any other file for that matter, using the only file repair tool you will ever need.

Part 1 | Common Reasons For File Corruption/ Damage

Before we show you how to repair pdf file, let’s understand the reasons why the PDF could not be opened and needs repair in the first place.

A few reasons for PDF corruption or any other file corruption could include:

1) Received An Already Damaged PDF

This one is obvious. Businesses continually exchange documents over a variety of media, and a PDF document could have gotten corrupted at any point. That document could have remained in circulation without the realization that it is corrupt. You might have received one such document that you cannot open.

2) Ejecting USB Flash Drive During Operation

Ejecting a flash drive during operation is a surefire way to end up with corrupt files or even a damaged file system requiring formatting. This is another common reason for file corruption/ damage.

3) Virus Attacks

Viruses in your computer or someone else’s could also cause corruption of files and documents that came in contact with the affected computer.

4) Internet Disruptions During File Downloads

While downloading a file over the internet, be it from a website or your mail, if the internet supply gets disrupted, your download would be paused. When the supply is restored, you can resume this download. This is helpful in most circumstances. But, sometimes, download resumption does not happen as it should, and data loss occurs. The resultant file would be rendered unusable and corrupt. 

Part 2 | How To Repair Corrupted PDFs Using Wondershare Repairit – Your Ultimate File Repair Tool

For this task, we are using the Wondershare repairit software. Why is Wondershare Repairit so highly recommended by users and reviewers alike? Here are a few reasons why:

• Repairit works natively on both Windows and macOS.
• Repairit even has a cloud app you can use with any web browser.
• Repairit can fix nearly any file type thanks to its support for a variety of formats.
• Repairit is easy to use and understand.

How to Use Wondershare Repairit for Repairing Corrupted PDFs

Download Repairit from the Wondershare website.

Step 1: Launch Repairit and click More Types Repair. 

Under Corrupted File Repair, click File Repair.

Step 2: Click Add to add corrupted PDF files to Repairit.

While we are focusing on repairing corrupted PDFs in this guide, you can add any file type to repair in Wondershare Repairit. So, for example, you can add Word documents, PDF documents, a song file that won’t play, a video that won’t start, image files that won’t open, etc. all at once. The batch processing feature of Wondershare Repairit was designed to be convenient for users, giving them the ability to add all sorts of files for repair in one go.

You can check file details such as name, size, and location once the files are loaded. You can add more or remove files added by mistake.

It’s time to start the repair process!

Step 3: Click Repair and the file repair process will start. Progress will be shown for each file, and you can cancel the process at any time if you need to.

When the repair process ends, you will see how many files were successfully repaired in a notification:

PREVIEW FEATURE

Repairit features a built-in file preview tool supporting a long list of file formats so you can preview the files to recover before saving them. You can preview by clicking the Preview button next to every file’s icon.

Step 4: Click Save All at the bottom (or Save if you are in the previewer) and choose where to save the files. 

Click Save to save the file(s) to the chosen location. Once the file is saved, you will see a prompt.

Part 3 | How To Prevent PDF Corruption/ Damage

Do we have any tips to help prevent PDF corruption in the future? Yes, we do!

Tip 1: Eject External Drives Before Removing

For people working with external storage drives, be it an SD card, USB flash drive or disk drive, the single most important tip to prevent PDF file corruption or any other file corruption is never to eject the card or drive during operation. Always use the Eject option on the operating system to eject the drive first before physically removing it.

Tip 2: Always Shut Down The Computer Gracefully

Never shut down the computer with the power switch or what is called the ‘hard’ shutdown with the button on the CPU. Use the Shut Down option in the operating system to power down the computer. That way, the operating system finishes whatever it must, and saves data to the disk so the chances of data corruption are reduced. 

Tip 3: Check Downloaded PDF Files

When downloading PDF files over the internet, always open and check them before distributing them. That way, you do not inadvertently end up with a corrupted file, especially if the download was interrupted and resumed later.

Tip 4: Use Antivirus and Antimalware Solutions

Using an antivirus and antimalware solution ensures that your PDF documents (and the whole computer) is as safe from a virus/ malware attack as can be. Naturally, this reduces your risk of data corruption.

Closing Words

PDF corruption is all too common an occurrence. People might think it to be a way of life and that nothing can be done about it, but the fact is that you can take steps to not only minimize the risk of PDF file corruption but also repair corrupted PDFs in case you have one. Understanding how and why a PDF file can get corrupted will help in preventing it, whereas knowing how to repair corrupted PDFs using modern software such as Wondershare Repairit will ensure that in the rare chance that you end up with a bad PDF file, you have a PDF repair tool with you that can help you recover damaged PDF easily.