Warning: These Files Are Intentionally Corrupted
All files on this page are intentionally broken for testing purposes. They will fail to open, extract, or play in normal applications. Use these files only for testing error handling, validation logic, and user feedback systems in your development and QA environments.
Free Corrupted Test Files for Error Handling
Test your application's error handling and validation logic with intentionally corrupted files. These broken ZIP, PDF, JPG, and MP4 files help you ensure your app gracefully handles invalid uploads, failed extractions, and corrupted media files.
Error Handling Testing
Validate that your app detects corrupted files and displays appropriate error messages to users.
Validation Logic
Test file type validation, MIME type checking, and format verification before processing.
User Feedback Systems
Ensure your UI properly communicates file corruption errors and guides users to fix issues.
Corrupted Files
8 Filescorrupted-small.zip
CORRUPTEDSmall corrupted ZIP archive. Tests extraction error handling.
corrupted-large.zip
CORRUPTEDLarge corrupted ZIP archive. Tests timeout and validation.
corrupted.pdf
CORRUPTEDBroken PDF file. Tests document viewer error handling.
corrupted-small.jpg
CORRUPTEDSmall corrupted image. Tests image processing errors.
corrupted-large.jpg
CORRUPTEDLarge corrupted image. Tests memory and validation limits.
corrupted-small.mp4
CORRUPTEDSmall corrupted video. Tests player error handling.
corrupted-medium.mp4
CORRUPTEDMedium corrupted video. Tests streaming error recovery.
corrupted-large.mp4
CORRUPTEDLarge corrupted video. Tests timeout and buffer errors.
Why Test with Corrupted Files?
Real-world applications encounter corrupted files from network errors, incomplete uploads, or malicious users. Testing with intentionally broken files ensures your app handles these scenarios gracefully.
① Upload Validation Testing
Test that your file upload system properly validates file integrity before accepting uploads. Corrupted files should be rejected with clear error messages, preventing users from uploading broken files that could cause issues downstream.
② Extraction & Processing Error Handling
Validate that ZIP extraction, PDF parsing, image processing, and video decoding operations fail gracefully when encountering corrupted data. Your app should catch exceptions, log errors appropriately, and inform users without crashing.
③ User Feedback & Error Messages
Ensure your UI displays helpful, actionable error messages when files are corrupted. Users should understand what went wrong and how to fix it (e.g., "File appears to be corrupted. Please try downloading again or use a different file.").
④ Security & Malicious File Testing
Test your application's resilience against malicious or malformed files. Corrupted files can reveal vulnerabilities in file parsers, buffer overflows, or denial-of-service issues. Proper validation prevents security exploits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about corrupted test files
What makes these files corrupted?
These files are intentionally corrupted by modifying critical file headers, truncating data, or inserting invalid bytes. ZIP files have broken archive headers, PDFs have corrupted document structure, images have invalid JPEG markers, and videos have broken codec data. They will fail to open in standard applications, making them perfect for testing error handling.
How should I test error handling with corrupted files?
Upload corrupted files to your application and verify: (1) File validation detects corruption before processing, (2) Error messages are clear and actionable, (3) The application doesn't crash or expose stack traces, (4) Failed operations are logged appropriately, (5) Users can retry with valid files. Test with different file types and sizes to cover various error scenarios.
Are corrupted files safe to use in production testing?
Yes, these corrupted files are safe for testing in development, staging, and QA environments. They contain no malicious code—only broken file structures. However, avoid using them in production with real user data, as they may trigger error handling that could impact user experience. Use them specifically for validation testing and error handling verification.
What's the difference between small and large corrupted files?
Small corrupted files (1-5MB) test quick validation failures and immediate error detection. Large corrupted files (10-100MB) test timeout handling, memory limits, and partial processing scenarios. Large files may take longer to validate, revealing issues with progress indicators, cancellation logic, and resource cleanup that small files miss.