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Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format used to present documents in a manner that is independent of the implementation of software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it.
During certain operations while working on PDF document, it is found certain times that the file is unable to open. The reason could be any of the following:
- Sudden shutdown: Many times due to a sudden power cut or any other reasons, the computer turns off abruptly which ultimately increases the chances of PDF file(s) corruption as the system closes all the opened files improperly during the shutdown.
- Virus attack: Computer viruses are malicious programs that are designed in a way that they corrupt file system of your computer or damage saved files. If your computer is contaminated with any such virus, then chances of corruption of PDF files are high.
- Generation of bad sectors on your data storage device: The data storage devices like your local hard drive, external hard drive, pen drive, etc can develop bad sectors over time. If your PDF file is saved on the bad sector of your storage media, then it may get corrupt.
- Issues with version of Acrobat Reader: Problems with your PDF file(s) application such as unexpected closing of an open PDF file or improper closing of an opened file can corrupt the PDF file.
- Size of PDF File: Since PDF is not a database that can handle and manage a very large amount of information, therefore, if your PDF file is large in size then also the chances of its corruption get higher.
Apart from all this, power outage, system or issues with acrobat versions, and various PDF errors that play a major role in haunting the user are as follows:
- Format error: not a PDF or corrupted.
- File is corrupt or damaged.
- The root object is missing or invalid.
- File does not begin with %PDF.
Methods Used to Repair Corrupt PDF File
In order to reinstate the PDF file, certain methods can be easily opted to repair the corrupt file. Below are provided some manual PDFs restore solutions.
- Remove the corrupt PDF file by sending it to the recycle bin and then empty the recycle bin. Download the PDF file again from the original source. While the Acrobat is downloading the file, limit your computer usage, this will only take a few minutes so just walk away from the computer momentarily. Open the new PDF file once the download has completed.
- Remove your Adobe Acrobat Reader program. Click “Start” and select “Control panel.” When the control panel opens find “Adobe Acrobat Reader” click on the program then select “Uninstall.” Allow the program to complete the entire uninstall process.
- Reboot your computer by clicking the “Start” then select “Restart.” When the computer is finished rebooting reinstall the “Adobe Acrobat Reader” from www.adobe.com. Download the latest version of the “Acrobat” for your computer’s operating system. This will take a few minutes to complete the reinstall.
Download the PDF file again by visiting the website from where you have obtained the corrupt PDF file. The file should be able to open correctly, but if you are still getting a corrupted file, it is high time for you to opt for a suitable third party PDF recovery program.
In order to recuperate the corrupt data impeccably, many experts do recommend using advance PDF recovery program like Kernel for PDF Repair. It is highly advanced pdf file recovery software integrated with an extremely user-friendly Graphic User Interface. The software provides instant and effortless recovery of data from the PDF file that seemed inaccessible or corrupt. The software empowers its user to restore all objects contained in your PDF file, including hyperlinks, comments, header and footer, etc. In fact, the software ensures absolute recovery of texts, labels, graphics, images and tables of damaged portable documents in almost every condition.
The entire process of recovery of corrupt PDF file using this software can be explained in the following steps:
- Select the corrupt PDF file(s) and list them for performing repair. You can select “n” number of PDF file(s) to be repaired in a single repair cycle.
- To initiate the repair cycle, click on Repair button. The software asks the user to define a location where the rebuilt PDFs can be saved.
- Define a location to save the repaired data and click OK to continue.
In order to view the repaired file, click on the link or click the OK button to close the dialog box.
In addition, the software is also likely to recover many PDF files even of large size in a single repair cycle. The free trial version of this tool can also be availed, using which; you can evaluate and analyze the functionality and features of the software. Although, the trial version of the software works similar to the full version except for the fact, that it displays contents of alternate pages and leaves other pages blank of the repaired PDF file(s). Therefore, to view the content on every page of the repaired PDF file(s), make sure you purchase the full version of this professional tool
So, now we know what to choose to fix a completely corrupted PDF file instead of wasting time and effort on the native fixes which are meant to resolve only minor issues.
Summing Up
PDF files throw different errors on an access attempt by users when it is corrupted or damaged due to any reason. Manual solutions like downloading the PDF file from the source again, reinstalling the PDF reader application, or rebooting the system/application can work if the issue is minor. But for severely damaged PDF files, trusting and using the advanced PDF Repair solution to restore the files would be the wisest choice.