# Repair Corrupt PDF Files

> Repair broken or corrupt PDF files. Fixes broken cross-reference tables, partial downloads, and post-EOF junk.

Live tool: https://lofttools.com/tools/pdf-tools/repair-pdf

Category: PDF & Documents

## How it works

1. **Select broken PDF** — Drop or browse the corrupt PDF up to 100 MB.
2. **Auto-recover** — Forgiving parser opens the file even with broken xref or post-EOF data, then writes a clean copy.
3. **Download repaired PDF** — Get a re-saved PDF with a fresh cross-reference table that opens cleanly in any reader.

## FAQ

### What kinds of corruption does this fix?

Broken cross-reference (xref) tables, partial downloads with extra junk after %%EOF, missing trailers, and minor invalid-object errors. It does NOT recover content that's actually missing — if a page's stream is gone, no tool can bring it back.

### Will it work on every broken PDF?

No. Severely corrupt files (missing root, encryption gone wrong, truncated mid-stream) may be unrecoverable. The tool will say so explicitly rather than producing junk output.

### Does my file get uploaded?

No. Repair runs entirely in your browser via pdf-lib. The file never leaves your device.

## Privacy — what we do not do

This tool runs entirely in the browser via WebAssembly. Your file never reaches a Loft Tools server. Specifically:

- **No upload.** The file bytes load into the browser tab's memory and process on your own CPU. Open DevTools → Network and observe zero outbound requests carrying file data while Repair Corrupt PDF Files runs.
- **No AI training on your file.** Loft does not train models. We could not train on a file we cannot see.
- **No content scanning.** No virus, copyright, or content-moderation pass against your file. The bytes are not accessible to us.
- **No server-side log of file contents, filenames, or EXIF metadata.** Cloudflare edge captures URL and truncated IP for abuse defense (standard CDN behaviour). Cloudflare Web Analytics records anonymous page hits, no cookies, no PII. Nothing about your file content reaches any log.
- **No retention.** Close the tab and the file leaves browser memory. No backups exist on our side because no copy ever existed on our side.
- **No account.** No email, no signup, no auth, no telemetry tied to you.
- **Offline-capable after first visit** (PWA). Once you've loaded a tool, it caches; later sessions work without internet. For high-sensitivity files, run the tool once online to warm the cache, then disconnect before processing.

Compare with upload-based services: each transmits your file to a processing server. Even over HTTPS, each has logs, retention windows, and subpoena exposure. Loft has none of these because the server architecture does not include your file.

## More

- All tools: https://lofttools.com/tools
- Category: https://lofttools.com/tools/pdf-tools
- LLM index: https://lofttools.com/llms.txt