Applies to: All editions
Sanitization asks to analyze first
One or more checked PDFs do not have a current analysis result. Accept the prompt to analyze the missing documents. If any required analysis fails, fix that problem before retrying sanitization.
Encrypted PDF is skipped
This is expected behavior. Encrypted PDFs are not currently supported for sanitization and are marked Encrypted – skipped.
Optional-content removal is blocked
In Preserve Quality mode, PDFSanitize refuses to remove optional-content layers when the analyzed PDF actually contains those structures because they cannot be removed safely while guaranteeing preservation of the original page structure.
Disable layer removal or choose Maximum Assurance.
Sanitized output cannot be created
Confirm that:
- The source directory still exists;
- The signed-in user has write permission to that directory;
- Security software is not blocking file creation;
- There is enough free space for temporary processing and the final PDF;
- The source file is not on read-only media.
PDFSanitize writes the output beside the source and does not silently redirect it to another folder.
Structural validation fails
PDFSanitize validates the final temporary PDF before copying it to the output path. If final validation fails, the sanitization is treated as failed rather than presenting that file as a successful result.
Retry with a local source copy and a standard profile. If the problem persists, retain the source hash and non-sensitive error information for support.
Output looks different after reconstruction
Selective hidden-text removal and Maximum Assurance rasterize rendered pages. Differences can include non-selectable text, rasterized vectors, altered accessibility behavior, and larger files. These are expected tradeoffs of reconstruction, but visual corruption is not. Compare the source and sanitized pages and report reproducible rendering defects.