Ways to fix “Format Error: not a PDF or corrupted”

Read time 8 minutes

“While trying to open a PDF file in Acrobat Reader, it is showing me with the error stating ‘Format Error: not a PDF or corrupted.’ I am not certain why it is happening all of a sudden, but I am quite afraid of losing my precious file. Someone, please help me with this and suggest me a way to get my file back healthy and without error.”

Sometimes in Adobe, due to missing updates, errors like “document could not be saved adobe reader error 110” can happen. So keep trying to have updates regularly.

In the user’s query, which has been mentioned above, they are unable to access their precious data. As you must be aware, PDF is one of the most common methods to share documents among colleagues and is even used to share homework in schools these days. Any issue with the PDF file can quickly result in a disrupted workflow, unsaved data, and loss of information that is difficult to retrieve. However, this error statement has become quite common now. When the user experiences it, their screen becomes blank, or they can view selective items only from the entire document. Hence, it becomes an urgent task to fix this error and protect the file from any data loss.

Reasons for facing “Format Error: not a PDF or corrupted

There can be many reasons why you are facing the “Format Error: not a PDF or corrupted.” By reading the message, it can be understood that either the PDF file is not genuine or is corrupted or damaged by any means.

• Damaged or broken PDF file due to incomplete download or transfer.
• Damaged Adobe Reader.
• Outdated version of Adobe PDF Reader.
• Virus attack.
• Network or browser issues
• Abrupt application/system shutdown
• An improper system, file, or program handling practices by the user
• Corruption in the PDF file.

All of the above-mentioned reasons can lead to this error, and most of them are quite avoidable. But, corruption is the worst and the most dangerous of all and can be a serious threat to your file.

As primary solutions, you can check the internet connection and browser compatibility and perform a system reboot and antivirus scan to fix the issue.

As we promised, we are going to list the most reliable and secure ways to fix this error. There are not many trusted ways with which you can fix this error. Hence we are going to mention some tricks and solutions.

• Get the file again

If you received the PDF file showing the error in an email, then there are chances that something went wrong while decoding it. So, it is suggested that you delete that file permanently from your system and download it again. Similarly, if you have downloaded or transferred that PDF file from any other source, then there are chances that the process was incomplete, which left the file broken. So, in that case, too, it is suggested that you delete the file permanently and download it again.

• Repair Adobe Reader

Any user’s instant reflex to open a PDF file is to use Adobe Reader. When you receive this particular error, it is also a clear indication that there might be some underlying issue with the Adobe Reader itself. Either the program is not functioning to its maximum capacity, or it is completely damaged. In this situation, it is high time to repair Adobe Reader and only attempt to open the file again. To repair the program, follow the steps mentioned below:

1. In Windows, click on the Start button and look for the Control Panel and open it.
   
2. There, click on the Programs and Features.
   
3. In the Uninstall or change a program section, go to the Adobe Acrobat Reader and make a right click. Now select Change as the option to move forward.
   
4. Finally, click on the Repair Program Installation option to fix it.
   
5. Once the repair process is done, restart the system and try to open the file again.

This may surely fix the issue if it was arising due to the damaged Adobe Reader.

• Reinstall Adobe Acrobat Reader Again

It may also happen that the version of Adobe Reader is outdated. In this case, it is suggested to uninstall the program and install the latest version of it. To do this, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Start with opening the Control Panel on your system.
   
2. Now, click on the Programs and Features option.
   
3. In the Uninstall or change a program section, look for the Adobe Acrobat Reader, make a right click and select Uninstall.
   
4. Once the uninstalling process is done, restart the system.
5. Once the system is started again, install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download it from the Adobe website.

Once you have performed all of the steps properly, try opening the file again and see if you still encounter the error.

• Fix the error with a professional tool

Your answer to restore entire corrupt PDF file is PDF file repair software; the final way to fix this error is by repairing the PDF file with Kernel for PDF Repair. Doing so will fix the error. This tool is so powerful that it has no limitation on file number and size and also fixes the severe types of corruption in the file. In just a few simple steps, your corrupt PDF file(s) will be fixed, and you will end up with a healthy and working piece of PDF file. This tool does not interfere with the quality of the PDF file and also recovers it with all its objects. If you still have doubts, you can repair and open the PDF file for free with the trial version of the tool. To save the repaired file, you need to purchase the tool from the website.

Download trial 100% Secure

Let us go through the tool’s process once to get a fair idea of the tool. Before proceeding with the tool’s demonstration, we would like to suggest you download the tool from the website. Make sure you install it properly and then run it on your system to proceed with the below-mentioned steps.

1. Start with clicking on the Select File(s) option and add a single or multiple PDF files.
   
2. Once the files are added, click on the Repair button to proceed with the repairing process. You can remove unwanted files by selecting files and clicking on the Remove File(s) option.
   
3. Now, the tool will start repairing files and you get the live updates of it on your screen. Once the process is over, you will have your healthy PDF file(s).
   

To access the repaired PDF files folder, just click on the blue highlighted link and it will redirect you to the folder containing the repaired files.

The three-step process mentioned above is shortcut; it is all you need to follow to fix PDF file errors.

Conclusion:

In this blog, we discussed “Format Error: not a PDF or corrupted” faced by users while opening a PDF file. We first tried to know the reasons behind this error and got to know that corruption is the major reason that leads to this error. So, after trying a few hacks and tricks, we used this tool to fix the corruption in the PDF file. We decided to use this automated tool as it is the most reliable and the quickest way to do so. After using this tool, the corruption was fixed, and we were finally able to open the file