What's actually inside this PDF?
PDFs aren't passive documents — they can run scripts, launch programs, and carry hidden attachments. See what a file can do before you open it. Everything happens on your device.
Runs locally. Your file is never uploaded anywhere. It is never opened or rendered — only its raw structure is read.
About the scanner: attackers often hide the interesting parts of a PDF inside compressed streams specifically so a plain-text scan misses them. This tool uses pako (MIT license, v2.1.0, inflate-only build), a well-tested open-source zlib port, self-hosted here with no external calls, to decompress every stream before scanning it — not just the visible text. This is a lightweight structural scanner, not a full PDF renderer: it reports what a file can do, not a verdict on whether it's safe.
This doesn't look like a PDF file — the expected %PDF- header wasn't found at the start of the file.
When should you check a PDF?
- Before opening a PDF attached to an unexpected email
- Any file claiming to be an invoice, statement, or shipping notice
- PDFs downloaded from a link rather than a known site
- A "resume" or "document" from someone you don't recognize
- Before forwarding a PDF someone sent you to someone else
- Any time a document behaves oddly the moment it opens
A PDF is a program that can also show you a page.
PDFs can run code
The PDF format supports embedded JavaScript, actions that fire automatically on open, and links to launch other programs. Most PDFs never use any of this — but the format allows it.
Context changes what's normal
A fillable tax form using scripts to validate a field is ordinary. A bank statement or scanned receipt running a script the instant it opens is not. The same behavior means different things in different documents.
Transparency, not a verdict
This tool tells you what a file can do — it can't tell you whether a given script is malicious. Use the findings to decide whether a file deserves more caution, not as a pass/fail result.
Want to understand why this matters? Read Before You Open: What a PDF Can Actually Do on NewToPrivacy.com