What to do right now
- Check email attachments, browser download history, scanner apps and the cloud for another copy.
- If there is none, stop using that drive and scan for PDF files.
- If the recovered PDF will not open, try PDF repair.
Step by step
Find another copy
A PDF received by email can be downloaded again from the attachment. Browser download history often links back to the original address, and scanner apps, multifunction printer scan logs and cloud folders may hold copies too.
Check the Recycle Bin
Look in the Windows Recycle Bin by name or deletion date and restore it.
Stop saving to the drive
The Downloads folder is on drive C:, so download as little as possible until you are done and run the recovery tool as a portable app from a USB stick.
Scan for PDFs
Scan the drive with FileFix Ultimate's deleted file recovery and filter for PDF. Search by name if it survived; otherwise check the content with the preview.
Save and open it
Save to another disk and open it in a PDF viewer. If it will not open or pages are missing, use the PDF repair in damaged file repair to rebuild the cross-reference table.
Sorting PDFs found without names
PDFs found by signature after the file records are gone have no original names. A name is suggested from the title and creation date stored inside the PDF, and the preview shows the first page, so you can pick the right document even among hundreds of results.
A PDF keeps a table describing its structure near the end, so if the end is cut off or overwritten, viewers cannot open it. Repair then finds the remaining objects, builds a new table and keeps the pages that can be read.
When recovery will not work
- Time has passed since deletion on an SSD with TRIM.
- Many downloads after the deletion overwrote the same space.
- A password-protected PDF still needs its password after repair.
How FileFix Ultimate helps
- Finds deleted PDFs with their names and folders, or by signature.
- Previews PDFs before recovery and checks that they open afterwards.
- Rebuilds the structure table of broken PDFs into a new copy.
- Never writes to the source drive.
FileFix Ultimate is free, works offline and never writes to the drive you are recovering from. Check the signature before you run it.
Frequently asked questions
Can a PDF be recovered after it was removed from the Recycle Bin?
On a hard drive, often yes, until it is overwritten. On an SSD, downloading it again from email or the cloud is more reliable.
The recovered PDF shows blank pages.
Part of the content may be overwritten. Try PDF repair to keep the pages that can be read.
Can scanned PDFs be found by their content?
Scans are images rather than text, so searching their content is hard, but the preview lets you pick them by the first page.