The PDF says 50 pages but you only see 47 displayed. Or the page numbers skip — 12, 13, 16, 17. Or a section you know should be there is just absent.
What's actually going wrong
Pages are truly missing. The export or scan skipped them, or a previous deletion removed them. Pages exist but are blank. The page tree includes them but their content is empty. Pages exist but won't render. They have broken content streams that the viewer skips silently.
Check the file's page count vs what you see. If page count matches but specific pages display blank, it's a render or content issue. If page count is short of expected, pages are actually missing.
The quick fix
For pages that should be there but aren't: get the source. Re-export from Word, re-scan the missing pages, ask the sender for a complete copy. Source recovery is faster than forensics.
For pages that exist but render blank, compress the PDF in Flint to rebuild page streams. Often the blank pages come back with content. If not, the content was never there.
If you only need to re-add missing pages without rebuilding everything, merge PDFs — combine the partial PDF with the missing pages from another source.
If that didn't work
For PDFs where you know specific page numbers were lost (e.g., page 5 of a 20-page document), split the PDF into individual pages first. Identify what's there. Reorder, replace missing pages from source, merge back in correct order.
For truly damaged documents where the page tree itself is broken, Flint's parser is more aggressive about reconstruction than most tools. Upload and see what's recoverable.
Prevent it next time
Keep source documents alongside PDFs. When scanning, verify page count immediately after scanning. For documents that matter, do a quick page-by-page review before filing or sharing.
FAQ
How do I know if pages are actually missing or just blank?
Check the page count. If the file says 50 pages and you see 50 (some blank), pages exist with content issues. If you see 47, pages are truly missing.
Can I recover deleted pages?
Only from another source. PDFs that have had pages deleted don't keep them — the bytes are gone. Re-export from source, re-scan, or ask the sender.
Why do my page numbers skip but the page count is right?
Internal page numbering (printed on the pages) doesn't always match PDF page order. The PDF has all pages; the visible numbering is just out of sequence. Reorder if needed.
Can I re-insert specific missing pages?
Yes. Use Flint's merge tool to insert the missing pages (from a separate PDF) at the right position. Or use reorder-pdf to rearrange after merging.
Missing pages need either rebuild or source recovery. Try Flint first — sometimes pages reappear after a compress.