How to Recover Acrobat Files

Adobe Acrobat is a handy tool that helps you view, create, modify, print, and manage Portable Document Format (PDF) files. According to facts Adobe presented, around 93% of the world’s creative professionals use their editing tools. Since many experts use Acrobat for different purposes, the software is also prone to glitches that result in file loss. That issue may also happen to you at any moment for numerous reasons. In case a file is deleted, lost, or corrupted accidentally, there are different methods to recover Acrobat files. Here are a few ways to get things back on track if that happens.

Utilize the Adobe InCopy Feature to Recover Unsaved Acrobat Files

InCopy from Adobe protects your files against unexpected difficulties or system failures with an automatic recovery feature. The data that is recovered automatically exists in a temporary file. This file resides separately from the original document file on the system. In general, you don’t need to worry about the data since all the document updates are saved in the automatic recovery file whenever you save the changes in the original file. InCopy is a convenient tool when you can’t save your document successfully due to a power failure or unexpected system shutdown. Here is what you need to do:

1. Restart your computer.
2. Launch InCopy.
3. If the automatically recovered file exists, InCopy will highlight the word [Recovered] in the file name. However, if it’s unable to open the document, that means the file is corrupted.
4. If InCopy files are linked with the InDesign publication, select File → Save.
5. Select File → Save as to specify a different location for stand-alone InCopy files.
6. Select the Save As option to save the automatically recovered document to another location on the disk.

To discard changes to the automatically recovered document before it was explicitly saved before the failure, close the file without saving it and re-open it or choose File → Revert.

Using the Autosave Feature to Recover Files from Adobe Acrobat

Adobe created Autosave as a safeguard against data loss, and this function is enabled by default. Every few minutes, it saves a file of modifications; usually, it’s once in five. To determine whether Autosave is turned on, open the program, select Edit → Preferences, then select Documents before heading to Save settings.

By selecting the “Automatically save document changes to temporary file every X minutes” option, you may adjust how long it takes before the software saves your changes. Adobe Acrobat will then create a temporary file every few minutes. When Adobe Acrobat crashes, it automatically opens the auto-saved PDF file when you restart it. If you have trouble opening PDF files, there is another approach to try to recover them manually. In this scenario, you must find the location of Adobe Acrobat temporary files on your computer to proceed. Proceed with the following steps:

1. Go to the file directory where Acrobat’s temporary files are, for example: “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC”
2. Go to “C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\Adobe\Reader\11.0” if you are using Adobe Reader.
3. Find the temporary files and copy-paste them to another location.
4. Change the extension of the files to “.pdf”
5. Now, try to open the files with Adobe Acrobat.

Reminder: Adobe Acrobat automatically deletes the temporary file (regardless of if you save it). The only reason for the temporary saves is for recovery in the event of a software or computer crash, a power outage, and so on. Thus, if you didn’t experience a program or machine failure, you might be unable to recover unsaved Adobe Acrobat files from temporary ones.

Look for Previous Backups to Recover Acrobat Files from the Disk

Regular backups are essential to ensure that your important data is secure in the event of an emergency. The Windows 10 File History tool allows users to retrieve lost files by recovering data from a folder or disk from any previous date or time when the lost files were present on the drive. Here are two methods to try to recover Acrobat files using previous versions.

Using File History

Type “Restore Files” in the Windows search box. Now:

1. Select “Restore your files with File History.”
2. Select the file version you want to use with the arrow keys and find your lost PDF file.
3. Choose Restore, and the file will be retrieved to its original location on your hard drive.
4. Select the option to “Restore To” if you wish to save the file to a new location.

Reminder: You can’t restore any modifications you’ve made to the file after the most recent backup. However, rather than losing everything, you’ll get the file back with some useful data.

Employing the Restore Previous Versions Feature

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive or folder where the lost PDF file was found and pick “Restore Previous Versions” from the pop-up menu.
2. To view the contents of a file, select the most recent backup from File History and then click Open.
3. Select the file you wish to recover the deleted PDF file.
4. Drag and drop an older version of the file from the list to the location you want it to be uploaded.
5. You can also select the “Restore” option at the bottom. This will replace the current file with the restored version.

Restore an Adobe Acrobat File using EaseUS Data Recovery Software

Another typical data loss scenario is when people lose their saved files after system upgrades or virus attacks. Your files might be damaged even worse. If you discover your PDF documents under the following circumstances:

• PDF file is longer readable
• Invalid or missing root object 
• Error in opening the document
• File is damaged or corrupted
• File can’t be opened by the viewer
• Error while processing a page

If you find yourself in this situation, do not take any actions that might result in file overwriting. Then check your Recycle Bin to see if any of your lost data is there. If the answer is no, it’s strongly advised that you employ data recovery software to recover the information. For example, the following recovery method uses the EaseUS Data Recovery tool.

1. Download EaseUS and install it on your computer.
2. Launch it and select the drive where the lost file was stored and run a scan. You can also use filters to quickly search the lost files.
3. Select the files you want to recover and press the Recover button.
4. Search for another location to save them securely this time.

Repairing Corrupt PDF Files via the Stellar Repair Tool

After downloading Stellar Repair for PDF, you can also repair corrupted Adobe files and restore them to their original state. It repairs all types of PDF corruption, including header corruption, data loss, cross-linked file structures, and more. The software supports single and multiple file repair and can rescue pages, images, notes, forms, and attachments from corrupt PDF data. Moreover, this software is compatible with all versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader and works with all Windows operating systems. Here are the steps to repair a corrupted PDF file using Stellar Repair for PDF:

1. Download, install and launch Stellar Repair for PDF on your Windows PC.
2. Select Add File → Browse button to select the corrupt PDF file for repair.
3. Press the “Repair” button to start the repair process.
4. Once the repair process is complete, press the “Save” button to save the repaired PDF file to the desired location.