# Repair PDF — Free Online (PdfPixels)

> Repair corrupted or damaged PDF files online. Rebuild broken document structures and recover readable pages in seconds.

Canonical URL: https://www.pdfpixels.com/tools/repair-pdf
Processing: server
Cost: free, no signup required for core use.

## Short answer

The Repair PDF tool by PdfPixels fixes corrupted PDF files by rebuilding their internal structure. Upload the damaged file and download a recovered copy with all readable pages restored — free, no signup.

## About

Repair PDF recovers documents that will not open — files cut off mid-download, PDFs damaged by a crashed editor, or attachments mangled by an email gateway. The tool parses whatever structure survives, rebuilds the cross-reference table and page tree from scratch, and reconstructs a clean PDF with every readable page. When a file is too broken for the parser, engine fallbacks attempt a deeper rebuild before reporting failure honestly. Processing happens on our servers; broken files are analyzed in isolation and never shared.

## Key features

- Rebuilds broken cross-reference tables and page trees
- Recovers all readable pages from partially damaged files
- Handles downloads interrupted mid-transfer and crash-damaged documents
- Multi-engine fallback for badly corrupted structures
- Honest errors — if a file cannot be recovered, the tool says so

## How to use

1. **Upload the damaged PDF** — Drop the file that will not open into the workspace.
2. **Run the repair** — The tool rebuilds the document structure and recovers readable pages.
3. **Download the recovered PDF** — Save the repaired file and verify the pages you need are intact.

## FAQ

### Can a corrupted PDF always be repaired?

Not always. If the file was overwritten with unrelated data or the damage destroyed the page content itself, recovery is impossible. The tool recovers everything that is still structurally readable.

### Will repaired PDFs look exactly like the original?

Readable pages keep their content and appearance. Some damaged metadata — bookmarks, form fields — may be dropped during reconstruction.

### Why did my repair fail with a specific error?

The tool reports precise errors: encrypted files need Unlock PDF first, zero-byte files have nothing to recover, and truncated files beyond the last intact page cannot be rebuilt.

### Is Repair PDF free?

Yes — free with no signup. Fair-use rate limits keep the service available.

## Limits

- PDF tools: 50 MB per file. Merge: 20 files / 100 MB total / 1000 pages.
- Image tools: 25 MB, 50 MP max. AI tools: 20 MB.
- Rate limits: 20/min per processing route per IP.
- Server-side files are processed ephemerally and purged automatically within 60 minutes.

More tools: https://www.pdfpixels.com/tools — Full machine reference: https://www.pdfpixels.com/llms-full.txt