How to Fix Character Encoding Issues in PDFs | Solutions for Odd Symbols

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PDF stands for Portable Document Format, a way of encoding printed documents as electronic images. Yet many users are looking for solutions to fix damaged PDFs, such as text that appears as gibberish. As in issues raised in the Adobe Support Community.

So, **how to fix character encoding in PDF**? This article will explain the overview of the PDF encoding issue and provide 5 solutions to repair character encoding in a PDF file.

What is the issue with special characters in PDFs? [PDF Corruption]

PDF files can get corrupted during uploading, downloading, merging, or even simple copying. Viruses and malware on your computer can also damage a PDF. Additionally, opening a PDF with unsupported software can cause strange characters to appear.

Character encoding issues in a PDF typically manifest in one or more of the following ways:

- Normal letters turn into strange symbols when converting a PDF to Word. - Text copied from a PDF becomes jumbled. - Characters in a text object cannot be mapped to Unicode. - PDF text turns into boxes. - A PDF is unreadable, with blank pages appearing between garbled text.

How to Fix Character Encoding in PDF [5 Solutions]

A character encoding issue could mean that no amount of opening and closing your PDF reader will reveal its contents. What do you do? Here are five different fixes to try.

• Solution 1: Check for PDF Reader Updates
• Solution 2: Use Software to Repair PDF Character Encoding
• Solution 3: Online Repair of Damaged PDF Files
• Solution 4: Reinstall the PDF Reader
• Solution 5: Restore an Earlier Version of the PDF File

Solution 1: Check for PDF viewer updates

You should check for updates and open the file with the latest version of the PDF app, as the issue might reside there, causing text corruption. Here, you can first try to repair the PDF file using Adobe Acrobat.

On your computer, open Adobe Acrobat.

Step 2: Choose “Check for Updates” under “Help.”

Step 3: After downloading the update, open the troublesome PDF again and see if the weird characters are gone.

Solution 2: Repair Character Encoding in PDF with Software

If the issue persists after updating your PDF reader, it's possible that the PDF file itself is corrupted. In this case, you might want to consider using a third-party tool to address the problem. A commonly recommended solution by experts is the Fixo Document Repair tool.

This powerful tool effectively repairs PDF files and helps you resolve character encoding issues in your PDFs. With the use of repair tools, you can quickly find the safest way to fix character encoding in your PDFs.

- Fixes corrupted files from HDD, SSD, USB flash drives, external hard disks, and more - Supports all current Windows operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 11, as well as macOS - Not limited to PDFs: It can also repair damaged Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, photos, and videos

This file repair tool can easily fix your corrupt PDF files by following these steps.

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

Step 2. Click “Repair All” to fix multiple files at once. To repair a single document, hover over the target file and select “Repair.” You can also preview the document by clicking on the eye icon.

Select the file you want 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 the repaired files.

If you find the file repair tool and this article helpful, don't forget to share it on Facebook, Twitter, or your favorite SNS.

Solution 3: Repair Corrupted PDF Files Online

Here are five online tools you can try if you want to attempt to fix a corrupted PDF file for free. After testing many options, these are the best free online PDF repair tools we've found. If you only need to recover one or two PDF files with encoding issues causing jumbled characters, the following pdf-online services should do the trick.

• ilovepdf.com
• sejda.com
• pdf2go.com
• pdf-online.com
• pdf.recoverytoolbox.com
These are websites that offer PDF-related services, such as editing, converting, or repairing PDF files.

How to Repair a PDF File Online [Simple Guide]

This article is for users who need to fix a corrupted PDF file but have no idea how to proceed. We've listed five popular and efficient online PDF repair tools for you to choose from.

Solution 4: Reinstall the PDF Reader

If the PDF has a character encoding page and Adobe Reader doesn't open or display the file correctly, try another PDF reader to determine whether the problem is with Reader or the file itself.

While many programs have the option to repair an installation from within the application, you can still manually uninstall and reinstall the program to fix damaged files. Reinstalling the program will eliminate any conflicts that may have caused the damage and reset all of the settings to their default values.

Here are the steps to reinstall Adobe Reader on Windows:

Step 1: Download the installer .zip file to any location on your computer from the website or app store.

Step 2. Unzip the file, and then open Setup.exe.

Step 3 For example, if you unzipped the .zip file and copied it to an Adobe folder on your desktop:

This string looks like a file path in a Windows operating system. In a Chinese environment, it would translate to: "C:用户桌面/Adobe/Acrobat_2020_Web_WWMUIAdobe Acrobat/Setup.exe" 请注意，在中文版的Windows中，"Users" 通常对应 "用户", "Desktop" 对应 "桌面", 而文件和目录名（如 "Adobe", "Acrobat_2020_Web_WWMUIAdobe Acrobat" 和 "Setup.exe"）通常会保留其原始的英文形式，因为它们是程序或文件的特定标识符。

Step 4: You must double-click the Setup.exe file to start the installation.

Step 5: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Solution 5: Restore an Earlier Version of the PDF File

Windows users can use the built-in Backup and Restore utility to recover an earlier version of an inaccessible PDF. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the Windows icon, choose “Settings,” and go to “Update & Security.”

Step 2. Restore the backup version to access your PDF file.

If you didn't create a backup, you might be able to restore an earlier version of the file using the File History tool.

Step 1: In Windows Explorer, select your file and click Properties.

Step 2: To restore, go to the Previous Versions tab.

Step 3: Look for an earlier version of the PDF. Click on it to confirm that it will let you re-upload the file to the system.

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PDF files are considered secure and reliable. However, depending on specific circumstances, a corrupted file or a device lacking the necessary tools can lead to encoding issues with characters in a PDF. Thus, you might need to employ one of the five methods mentioned in the article.

Among all the recommendations, the safest and most effective method is to use Fixo Document Repair Tool. It's an ideal solution for non-technical users to perform basic data recovery and for advanced users to tackle complex data loss scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Fix Character Encoding Issues in PDF Files

Here are four additional questions about how to fix PDF character encoding. Click here for the answers.

**1. Why does text copied from a PDF become jumbled when I paste it?**

When pasting text from a PDF, you might encounter garbled text, indicating that the font could be the culprit. If a PDF's font lacks a Unicode map and copying and pasting doesn't use a standard encoding to convert glyph indices to characters, you end up with garbled characters.

How to fix PDF text showing as squares?

When your PDF text appears as boxes, it indicates that the PDF file needs to be repaired. You can opt for the online PDF repair tool mentioned in Solution 3, Online PDF Fix, or try using a desktop utility like Fixo Document Repair. These tools help fix damaged and corrupted PDF files.

3. What Causes a PDF File to Become Damaged?

If a hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD card fails or becomes damaged suddenly, your PDF files can become corrupt. Overheating, power surges, or faulty connections or disconnections can cause hard drive failures.

**4. Why are my PDFs printing strange characters?**

The font might not be embedded. The PDF creator might have used a non-standard font encoding. Affected characters might not map correctly to Unicode. This issue usually must be fixed in the source file and then a new PDF created.