How to Corrupt a PDF File so That It Can't Be Opened (Step-by-Step Guide)

How to corrupt a PDF file so that it cannot be opened? This how-to article teaches you how to corrupt a file in two ways by using Notepad and Corrupt a File.Net tool. Meanwhile, if you mistakenly corrupt a wanted PDF, use file repair tool to fix the corrupted PDF files efficiently. It can efficiently restore the text, hyperlinks, graphs, watermarks, and digital signatures from corrupted PDF files.

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So you've got a file that you don't want to share with anyone, correct? It is most likely a PDF containing confidential information you wish to keep hidden. Don't worry; you can accomplish this by corrupting a file.

If you want to corrupt a PDF file, you don't need any paid tools or excessive computer knowledge to do so. In this article, we will discuss some of the easiest ways to do so so that it can't be opened and save your important PDF files if you have accidentally damaged them.

How to Corrupt a PDF File with Notepad

You are at a big mistake if you think that corrupting a PDF file will involve some techy steps and you will need some ultra-high-tech tools to carry out this operation. You can corrupt a PDF file in less than 30 seconds (we bet for it). But if you have accidentally corrupted the wrong files, use EaseUS Fixo File Repair for help:

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Now follow the steps here:

Note: Ensure to corrupt the original file copy to avoid any data loss or problems.

Step 1. Right-click on the PDF file you want to corrupt and open it with Windows built-in Notepad.

Step 2. You will then face a ton of unusual commands you have never seen before.

corrupt a pdf with notepad

Step 3. Just select 15-20 lines of these commands and remove them.

Step 4. Close the notepad file and save the changes.

How to Corrupted a PDF File on Purpose Using Corrupt a File.Net

Well, corrupting the PDF file and getting an extension is not a new technology. You can use an online file-corrupting tool for easy PDF corruption. Corrupt a file.net (https://corrupt-a-file.net/) comes to the rescue. This tool can corrupt Word, Excel, archives, MP3, and other common file types. Just submit your PDF files and corrupt them easily. Also, you can save your PDF anytime you want with EaseUS Fixo File Repair if you made a mistake:

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Here is how you can corrupt a file using this free online tool:

Step 1. Open their website and scroll down to: Select the file to be corrupt.

corrupt a PDF with online file corrupting tool

Step 2. Navigate your file and upload it to the website.

Step 3. Click on the corrupt file and let the online tool do its thing.

Step 4. Your file will be corrupted within seconds, and you can download it for free.

How to Repair Damaged PDF Files That Are Corrupted Accidentally

Sadly, you were corrupting the PDF file and somehow forgot to back up the original file, and now you are in a complete mess. Hours of hard work are corrupted. But wait! There is always a way back, and so is in this case. You can easily retrieve and restore the corrupted files through the EaseUS Fixo File Repair

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This file repair tool can easily repair your corrupted PDF file and allow you to use it. Moreover, the best part about using this file repair tool is getting the file in its original format. All the headers, footers, formatting, and headings will be the same as before, and nothing will seem different. 

This PDF repair tool from EaseUS can also help open 0kb PDF files and repair PDF files that are not opening. Follow the steps below to solve PDF-related issues:

Step 1. Download and launch Fixo on your PC or laptop. Choose "File Repair" to repair corrupted Office documents, including Word, Excel, PDF, and others. Click "Add Files" to select corrupted documents.

add files to repair documents with Fixo

Step 2. To repair multiple files at once, click the "Repair All" button. If you want to repair a single document, move your pointer to the target file and choose "Repair". You can also preview the documents by clicking the eye icon.

select documents to repair

Step 3. Click "Save" to save a selected document. Select "Save All" to save all the repaired files. Choose "View Repaired" to locate the repaired folder.

save repaired documents in Fixo

You can also find a detailed guide on how to download Fixo and repair corrupted PDF files with this software in the following video:

  • 00:14 Method 1. Insert to a new Word document
  • 00:38 Method 2. Use open and repair
  • 00:55 Method 3. Default settings
  • 01:30 Method 4. EaseUS Fixo Document Repair

More Guides on Corrupting a PDF So It Won't Open On Mac

Corrupting a PDF file on a Macbook contains more steps than the usual Windows Corruption. However, it is still not a difficult one. If you are an old Mac user and know something about extensions, it will hardly take you a few minutes to easily corrupt your PDF file.

On Mac, there are always extensions written at the end of the file name. If it is a PDF file, it must contain an extension named PDF. If you can't see the extension name against any file, it means you have disabled the Show extensions option and have to enable it manually.

Just click on "Finder > Preferences > Advanced" and tick the box at the front of "Show all filename extensions". As you can see, all the extensions are now visible. 

The next step is to select the target file. When you have found the right file, rename it and change its extension to PDF. For example, change the PDF format to .docx and click "Save". Congrats! You have successfully corrupted the PDF file on your Macbook.

Furthermore, you can rest assured that no PDF viewer on Mac can run or open your file because it was never a PDF file. 

Wrapping Up

Corrupting a PDF file is like a walk in the park. You can do it without following any complex steps or paid tools. You can do it yourself or use the corruptmyfile.net site to do it for you. Moreover, if you have accidentally corrupted an important PDF file or some virus corrupted it, you can repair it in both cases using the EaseUS Fixo File Repair tool. 

It is one of the best tools for repairing a file you mistakenly corrupted. So, sit back and relax, and follow the above-mentioned methods to corrupt your PDF file.

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About the Author

author Cedric

Cedric

Cedric Grantham is a senior editor and data recovery specialist of EaseUS. He mainly writes articles and how-to tips about data recovery on PC and Mac. He has handled 10,000+ data recovery cases and is good at data recovery of NTFS, FAT (FAT32 and ExFAT) file systems, and RAID structure reorganization.

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