How to recover PDF files? Whether itβs unsaved, deleted or corrupted, you can get at least one method to recover it. The most effective method is using data recovery software like MyRecover.
PDF files are documents saved in the Portable Document Format (PDF)- developed by Adobe in the 1990s and it’s widely used at home, office, school and pretty much any modern institution. As a result, it's common that you may experience accidental deletions.
There are many reasons for data loss, but the good news is that you can usually recover PDF files in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, etc. If it’s corrupted, you still can repair it effectively.
Yes, you are able to recover unsaved, deleted, or corrupted PDF files, but there are some important prerequisites here.
The deleted files do not disappear immediately, but are moved to the Recycle Bin folder until you delete it permanently. Even then, the files logically remain on the disk.
Of course, if you have working system restore points or file backups, you can even restore your files in above-mentioned situations.
You can easily find the solutions to recover PDF files as long as you know the precise reasons for this problem. Here are some possible options:
PDF Readers like Adobe offer users the AutoSave feature to automatically save a copy of editing PDF files in temporary file. Usually, it’s 5 minutes.
To check the AutoSave status and be sure it’s not disabled:
Step 1. Click Edit > Preferences > Documents, and head to Save settings. You can then change the save time with the option “Automatically save document changes to temporary file every X minutes”.
Step 2. Once your computer or software crashes, has power connection issue or you forget to save your data in a rush, it will open the auto-saved PDF file at the next start. Click Yes if Adobe asks.
Step 3. If not, you still can retrieve the PDF file in one of the following locations.
Notes:
Similarly, you could check the AutoSave file location of other files to get them back. For example, to recover unsaved PowerPoint files.
Except for unsaved PDF files, accidental deletion or file corruption may also cause data loss. Improper repair may make a corrupted PDF file go forever. To avoid this, please recover corrupted PDF files first. To repair corrupted PDF files, please go to the next part.
β Quick Menu
If your PDF files were deleted in a usual way, which means you deleted them by dragging them to Recycle Bin or by using the "DEL" key, you could head over to Recycle Bin and restore them quickly.
Step 1. Go to Recycle Bin and find the deleted PDF files.
Step 2. Right-click the PDF files and click Restore to recover deleted PDF files from Recycle Bin.
Notes:β...
If you find the deleted PDFfiles not in Recycle Bin, please move to the following methods.
If you cannot retrieve PDF files in Recycle Bin, they might be permanently deleted or you have emptied the Recycle Bin. In this case, one of the best way is to restore PDF files from backup images with File History. Please be sure it’s turned on beforehand.
Step 1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security and select File History.
Step 2. Click Restore personal files.
Step 3. Click the left or right arrow to find out the deleted files and click the green Restore button to retrieve deleted PDF files not in Recycle Bin.
MyRecover is a simple and easy-to-use data recovery software for Windows 7, 8, 10, 11 etc and Windows Server. It has a clear interface and rich features.
Download data recovery software - MyRecover and recover deleted or corrupted PDF files. You can free recover files up to 500MB. To recover unlimited files, please upgrade MyRecover.
Step 1. Start this simple data recovery software - MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted PDF files before, and click Scan.
Step 2. The scanning process is automatic. It will run a quick scan first and then deep scan. Any file scanned will be displayed below. You can then directly recover deleted files or wait for the scanning result.β
You can also search for PDF file with Filter and it’s faster. Here are 3 options in the following:
To retrieve deleted PDF files, click Filter > Type and select Documents. Then, input PDF in the Search for files or folders box.
Step 3. Select the deleted PDF files you want to recover and click Recover x files to restore deleted or lost PDF files.
Notes:
Windows File Recovery is also a data recovery software, but it’s based on command prompt window instead graphic user interface. Try this if you are professionals and want more flexible options.
Before starting, in order to use it correctly, you need to learn and master its syntax, recovery mode and switches. For details, please refer to "How to use Windows File Recovery".
Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store.
Step 2. Press Win + E to open This PC. Right-click on the drive where the PDF files were deleted from and select Properties.
Step 3. Type the winfr command based on its syntax. Then, press y to confirm you want to recover deleted PDF files.
winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]
Notes:
For example: to recover deleted PDF files for several days or longer from C: drive to D:drive.
winfr C: D: /extensive /n *.pdf
When finished, it will automatically create a folder named “Recovery_date and time” on the D: drive. You can access and view all of the deleted files in this folder.
Besides, in the Extensive mode, the winfr wil ask you if you want to view recovered files. Type y.
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If you just want to restore your PDF files to a previous version, try the Previous Version feature. It requires you to enable system restore or File History in advance.
Step 1. Start Windows Explorer. Locate the folder containing the deleted files.
Step 2. Right-click the folder and select Properties > Previous Version.
Step 3. Select the folder version which is exactly the one before you delete it, and click Restore to restore deleted PDF files to previous version.
After recovering corrupted PDF files, you can then repair it with confidence without worrying about data loss. If you are not sure it’s corrupted, check the following conditions.
If the problem is related to PDF files inself, try PDF repair tools online. There are many options online, to repair PDF files easily, we recommend you using Sejda Repair PDF, iLovePDF, or PDF2GO if you don’t want to download and install any software on your computer. If the file contains sensitive data or you don’t want to upload your PDF files online, try Sejda PDF Desktop or PDF Repair Toolbox.
Here take the iLovePDF as an example to show you the steps.
Step 1. Browse to the iLovePDF website and click the red Select PDF file button.
Step 2. Select the corrupt PDF file from your PC.
Step 3. Click Repair PDF. Once repaired, download and save it to your computer.
If the corrupted PDF files are software problems, try Method 2 or Method 3 in the following.
If your Adobe app is an old version, please uninstall the current version. Then, download and install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Reader on your computer. Finally, check if you can open PDF files as normal.
To check for Adobe Acrobat updates, you need to launch the Adobe application, click Help, and choose Check for Update.
If you don’t want to lose any PDF files due to accidental deletion or file corruption, you need to protect it in the daily life. Here are some useful suggestions you can follow:
Among them, the best practice is to backup PDF files on your disk automatically with free backup software like AOMEI Backupper Standard. It gives you a chance to recover data from hard drive quickly.
Step 1. Download and install Windows backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard. Then, click Backup and File Backup to backup your PDF files.
Step 2. Set the Task Name to distinguish this backup task from others. Click Add File or Add Folder to choose PDF files you want to backup.
Step 3. Select a location to store your data. It can be internal or external disk, USB flash drive, network drive, NAS device, Cloud Drive, etc.
Step 4 (Optionally). Click Schedule Backup and enable Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers or USB plug in to backup PDF files automatically.
Step 5. Confirm the operation and click Start Backup. By default, it will enable incremental backup to backup only new or changed PDF files.
β Where do deleted PDF files go?
If you delete a PDF file on the computer, it will go to Recycle Bin until you permanently delete it or empty the Recycle Bin. On an external or USB drive, the deleted files are permanently deleted. Anyway, these files are lying on the space where it’s deleted.
β How to recover deleted PDF files from pendrive
The deleted files on pendrive are permanently deleted, because it’s external storage device. So it will not be in the Recycle Bin. To recover files from pendrive, check if your have previous versions of PDF files or backup image. If not, try data recovery software like MyRecover.
β How to recover PDF files from formatted hard drive
There are many ways to recover PDF files from formatted hard drive, but first? Please stop using the drive to avoid data recovery failure. Then, you can restore from previous version, Backup and Restore, File History, chkdsk or seek help from data recovery software.
You can easily recover PDF files unsaved, deleted or corrupted in Windows 7, 8, 10, etc and Windows Server as long as you don’t overwrite the lost PDF files.
If you just unsave your PDF files, check the temporary file location. To recover deleted files, the most effective method is to use data recovery software if you don’t have a backup. For corrupted files, you need to recover files first and then repair it with PDF repair tools. Hope it helps you.