Troubleshooting Resume Parsing

• When you upload a resume, Aplyr reads it and extracts your details into editable fields.
• If something comes out wrong, you can fix it by hand on the resume — no re-upload needed.
• Re-upload only when the file itself is the problem (a scanned image, a heavily designed layout, or the wrong document).

How resume parsing works

When you add a resume on Documents, Aplyr uploads the file and then reads it, pulling out your contact details, work history, education, and skills into structured fields you can review and edit. You'll see Processing resume... while it works, then a confirmation that your resume has been parsed and saved.

Parsing is automatic, but it has limitations. Unusual layouts, columns, tables, and graphics can confuse any parser, so it's always worth a quick scan of the extracted fields before you rely on the resume for Quick Apply or Autopilot.

How to fix extracted fields by hand

Most parsing errors are small—such as a misread job title, a merged date, or a missing skill—and you can correct them without re-uploading.

1. Go to Documents and open the resume you want to check.
2. Review the extracted sections: contact info, experience, education, and skills.
3. Select Edit, then update any field that came out wrong or incomplete.
4. Choose Save Changes to keep your edits.

💡 Tip Edits you make here become the source of truth for that resume. Take a minute to fix the parsed fields once, and every future application that uses this resume will be accurate.

Common parsing issues — and what to do

• Scanned or image-based PDFs — If your resume is a photo or scan, there's no real text for Aplyr to read. Export a true text PDF from your word processor and re-upload.
• Columns, tables, or heavy design — Multi-column and graphic-rich templates often scramble the reading order. A simpler single-column layout parses far more reliably.
• Missing or jumbled sections — Standard headings such as "Experience," "Education," and "Skills" help the parser. If a section landed in the wrong place, fix it inline with Edit.
• Wrong dates or merged roles — Two jobs that blended into one, or a garbled date range, are quick manual corrections in the experience section.
• "We couldn't read this resume" — This usually means the file was a scanned image or an unreadable format. Try a different, text-based version of your resume.

📌 Note Aplyr accepts PDF only, up to 10MB. If your file is larger or in another format, re-export it as a standard PDF first.

When to re-upload instead of editing

Editing fields is the right move for small fixes. Re-uploading is the right move when the file itself is the problem. Start fresh with a new upload if:

• The parse mostly failed — large chunks are missing or out of order.
• The original was a scan or image, and you now have a proper text PDF.
• You've meaningfully changed your resume's content outside Aplyr.
• You uploaded the wrong document by mistake.

To replace it, open Documents and use the New Resume card (or Upload a different resume right after a parse) to add the cleaner file. Then set the one you want as your default so it's used for applications.

⚠️ Warning Uploading a new resume doesn't change which one is your default. After re-uploading, make sure your preferred, corrected resume is set as the default so Quick Apply and Autopilot use it.

Good to know

• You can keep multiple resumes in Aplyr — there's no need to delete an old one to add a new version.
• A clean parse improves match scoring and AI resume tailoring, so it's worth getting right early.
• If parsing keeps failing on every file you try, the issue is likely the document format rather than your account.

Related articles

• Managing your resumes
• Uploading your first resume
• AI resume tailoring
• Resume storage, privacy, and security