How to Recover Unsaved/Lost/Damaged Adobe Acrobat Files on Windows PC

Adobe Acrobat is an application developed by Adobe Systems that allows users to view, create, and edit PDF (Portable Document Format) files. PDF is one of the most widely used document formats globally. Many individuals and organizations utilize Adobe Acrobat to produce documents such as resumes, manuals, and specifications in this format.

Can Adobe Acrobat files be recovered?

If you accidentally closed Adobe Acrobat without saving or while editing a PDF, or if the program crashed, you might be wondering if you can recover your files. Luckily, the answer is **yes**. You can attempt to restore unsaved Adobe Acrobat files using Adobe's auto-save feature. If you previously saved the PDF but lost it due to user error or a virus attack, you can also recover it with the Adobe Application Recovery wizard and third-party tools. Keep reading for more information on how to recover PDF files.

How to Recover an Unsaved Adobe Acrobat File

To prevent users from losing their data, Adobe has developed a safety feature called "Auto-Save." This feature is enabled by default in Acrobat. It saves changes to a file every few minutes, usually every five minutes. To check the Auto-Save status, you need to open the application, click on "Edit" then "Preferences," and then click on "Documents" and navigate to "Save Settings." By checking the option "Automatically save document changes to a temporary file every X minutes," you can alter the save interval. Then, Acrobat will create a temporary file every few minutes. Should Adobe Acrobat crash, when you relaunch the software, it will automatically open the auto-saved PDF file.

If your PDF still isn't displaying, there's a manual method you can try to recover the file. This will involve finding the location on your computer where Adobe Acrobat stores its temporary files. You can find instructions on how to do that in the steps below.

Step 1: Go to the following location on your computer. This is where Acrobat stores its temporary files:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC

If you're using Adobe Reader, go to:

C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\Temp\Adobe\Reader\11.0

Step 2. Locate the temp files in that folder, and copy them to another location.

Step 3: Change the temporary file's extension to *.pdf.

Step 4: Try opening the temp file with Adobe Acrobat.

According to Adobe Support, if you close Adobe Acrobat (with or without saving), the temp files are deleted. The sole purpose of a temp save is to recover in case of a crash, such as Acrobat or your computer crashing, or power failure. So, unless you experienced one of these issues, you may not be able to recover an unsaved Adobe Acrobat file through a temp file.

How to Recover Lost/Damaged PDF Files

Aside from unsaved PDF files, another common scenario of data loss is when users lose their saved files after a system upgrade or a virus attack. Worse, your files could be corrupted. If you encounter any of the following situations with your PDF files, then they might be damaged.

• Unable to read the PDF file
• The root object is invalid or missing
• Error opening the document
• The file is corrupted or has an incorrect format
• The viewer cannot open it
• Error processing the page

If you find yourself in this situation, avoid doing anything that might cause the file to be overwritten. Check your Recycle Bin next to see if the lost file is there. If not, it's highly recommended that you use a data recovery software to get the file back.

tools Data Recovery Wizard performs well in many data loss situations. It supports data recovery deleted by antivirus, [retrieving files from formatted partitions](/data-recovery/recover-formatted-partition.html), and restoring deleted files from the recycle bin, etc. tools data recovery software can recover lost or corrupted PDF files in three steps.

Now download this software to your computer and try it out.

Step 1: Select the disk and start scanning

Launch the Disk Drill Data Recovery Wizard and hover over the partition where you lost your data. It can be an internal hard drive, an external disk, USB or SD card. Then click “Scan.”

Step 2: Preview and check the scanned files

Use the file format filter in the left pane or the top-right corner to narrow down the scan results until you find the file you need. If you want, you can click the "Preview" button or double-click the file to preview its content.

Step 3: Recover the lost data to a secure location

Check the box next to the missing files, and click “Recover” to save the recovered data to a safe location. We recommend that you do not save the recovered data to the same disk where it was lost.

How to Fix a PDF Application in Adobe

Though the file may not be corrupt, you might not be able to open or manage a PDF because the Adobe Acrobat application itself could be damaged. In such a case, you need to repair the PDF application to fix the issue. Here are two common methods to repair a damaged PDF application.

Method 1: Download the Latest Version of the App

First, uninstall the current version of Adobe Acrobat, and then download and install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader on your computer.

**Method 2: Check for Updates**

To check for Adobe Acrobat updates, you need to launch the Adobe application and click on "Help" followed by "Check for Updates."

Method 3: How to Repair a Corrupted PDF File

The Fixio repair tools can help mend corrupted PDF documents stored on external media. It can also extract text, annotations, tags, graphics, and more from PDF files.

Step 1: Download and run Fixo on your computer or laptop. Select "File Repair" to fix corrupted Office documents, including Word, Excel, PDF, and more. Click "Add File" to select the damaged document.

< strong > Step 2. To repair multiple files at once, click the "Repair All" button. To fix a single document, hover over the target file and select "Repair." You can also preview the document by clicking the eye icon.

Select the document to repair

Click “Save” to save the selected files. Choose “Save All” to save all repaired files. Select “View Repaired Files” to locate the folder with your repaired files.

You can also watch the following video for more information on using the tool Fixo Document Repair to fix corrupted Word/Excel/PDF files. This method is shown in Part 4 of the video, and you can use the timeline to navigate quickly:

00:14 Method 1: Insert into a New Word Document 00:38 Method 2: Open and Repair 00:55 Method 3: Default Settings 01:30 Method 4: Tools Fixo Document Repair Tool

# What is the difference between Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader? Both Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader are software developed by Adobe Systems, but they differ significantly in their functionality. Here are the main differences: 1. **Creating and Editing PDFs**: - **Adobe Acrobat**: Offers complete PDF creation, editing, and management capabilities. Users can convert other document formats to PDF, edit PDF content, add annotations, fill forms, and merge or split files. - **Adobe Reader**: Primarily used for viewing and printing PDF files. It lacks editing features but allows reading, annotating, and filling interactive forms without modifying the document structure or content. 2. **Security**: - **Adobe Acrobat**: Provides advanced security features like encryption, permission settings, and digital signatures to protect PDF files from unauthorized access or alteration. - **Adobe Reader**: Can view encrypted documents but generally cannot set passwords or change security settings. 3. **Collaboration and Sharing**: - **Adobe Acrobat**: Supports collaboration tools like shared reviews, collaborative editing, and integration for team collaboration. - **Adobe Reader**: Can view shared reviews but cannot initiate or manage such collaborative processes. 4. **Batch Processing and Automation**: - **Adobe Acrobat**: Includes batch processing capabilities for converting, optimizing, or tagging multiple PDF files. - **Adobe Reader**: Does not support batch operations. 5. **Cost**: - **Adobe Acrobat**: Typically requires a license purchase, with paid versions available (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Pro DC). - **Adobe Reader**: Is available for free download and use. In summary, Adobe Acrobat is a comprehensive PDF solution suitable for professionals who need to create, edit, and manage PDFs, while Adobe Reader is a lightweight PDF viewer for users who only require reading and printing PDF documents.

This article focuses on how to recover unsaved Adobe Acrobat files. However, Acrobat isn't the only Adobe application that can open PDFs. Another popular program is Adobe Reader. Since both applications allow users to manage PDF files, some people might wonder about their differences. Let's explore the features of these programs.

Adobe Reader: Used for reading PDFs and performing basic tasks, such as allowing users to fill in form fields and add highlights.

Adobe Acrobat: Create PDFs from other formats, edit them in various ways, add form fields, security settings, and more.

In other words, the main difference lies in the fact that Adobe Acrobat includes all the features of Adobe Reader and more, such as the ability to create and edit text and images within a PDF document. It is a more advanced version of Adobe Reader with additional functionalities.

Bottom line

That's it for how to recover a PDF file on a Windows PC. In general, you don't have to worry about the safety of your PDF files because Adobe Acrobat saves your edits automatically. Even if you find yourself in a desperate situation that causes data loss or file corruption, you can still retrieve your PDF files with a data recovery tool like the Data Recovery Wizard. If this tool piques your interest, download and give it a try!