A PDF hyphen fixer is a free online tool that repairs words split by hyphens at line ends when you copy from a PDF. It rejoins fragments into whole words, while leaving genuine hyphens such as well-known untouched, and counts every fix it makes.
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How do I fix words split by hyphens at line ends?
Short answer: Paste the text into the PDF hyphen fixer. It finds hyphens sitting at the end of a line followed by a lowercase continuation, deletes the hyphen and line break, and glues the fragments into one word. The tool reports how many words it rejoined, so you can verify the result.
Fragments like resto- and ration become restoration automatically.
Will this tool remove hyphens that belong in the word?
Short answer: No. It only removes hyphens at line ends, which are the ones PDFs add when wrapping text. Real hyphens inside a line, such as in well-known or state-of-the-art, are never touched. Hyphens before capitalized words are also preserved by default, protecting proper names and sentence starts from accidental joins.
When in doubt, the tool errs on the side of keeping the hyphen.
Why do PDFs split words with hyphens?
Short answer: PDFs are designed for fixed print layouts, so long words at the right margin get hyphenated to keep edges neat. Copying preserves both the hyphen and the line break, leaving fragments stranded on the next line. The fixer reverses this typesetting artifact, restoring the original unbroken words for editing and searching.
Justified text and narrow columns produce the most hyphenation.
Frequently asked questions
How does it know which hyphens to remove?
It only acts on a hyphen at the very end of a line followed by a lowercase letter starting the next line, the classic signature of PDF line-break hyphenation. Hyphens in the middle of a line, like in well-known, and hyphens before capitalized words are left alone unless you enable the capitalized-words option.
What if the next line starts with a capital letter?
By default the tool keeps the hyphen, because a capital often signals a proper name or a real compound. If your document has many split words starting with capitals, tick also rejoin before capitals to join those too, then review the output.
Can I see how many words were fixed?
Yes. The result note reports exactly how many words were rejoined. Compare the output with the input to verify each fix; genuine hyphens and intentional compounds remain unchanged.
Does it handle soft hyphens too?
Soft hyphens are invisible Unicode characters, a different problem. Use the invisible character detector to find and remove them, then run this tool for the visible line-end hyphens.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. All processing happens in your browser, so your documents stay private.