A scan or handout was not read

Two different things can be unreadable: the handout you upload at setup, and a student’s file. The message tells you which.

Check these first

Open the file yourself. If you can’t read it easily, the AI can’t either.
A text PDF beats a photo. If the file came from a phone camera, scan it instead, or photograph it flat in good light.

At setup: the handout

What you see	What it usually means	What to do
No questions found: “We read your handout but couldn’t pull any questions out of it.”	The file is readable but has no question structure the AI recognised: a photo of a page, a blank page, or a cover sheet	Select Try a different file and upload a text PDF of the questions
We couldn’t read this document: “This can happen with scanned, photographed, or password-protected files.”	The file itself couldn’t be opened	Remove any password, re-export as PDF, then Try again
The questions came out, but wrong	The document is messy and the AI misread it	Don’t re-upload. Edit the questions on the Questions step: fix wording, merge, split, renumber

After upload: a student’s file

What you see	What it usually means	What to do
Can’t grade with “Couldn’t read the file”	Corrupted, password-protected, or an unusual format	Replace file on the row with a clean PDF, or Ask to resubmit for a student’s own turn-in
Graded, but the score is odd on a scan	The AI read the wrong page, or misread handwriting	Open it. On question-based work, fix the pages with Assign pages, then regrade that question
A warning icon on a grammar finding	The AI may have misread the handwriting	Check it against the page and dismiss it if wrong

Handwritten work

Handwriting grades well when it’s legible to you at a glance and scanned flat. Pencil on lined paper is harder than pen on white. Encourage students to write the question number beside each answer; page matching depends on it. Presentations and artwork skip handwriting detection altogether.

Still need help?

Open the Support tab on the edge of any GradingPal screen, or email support@gradingpal.com. To get a fast answer, include:

the class name and the assignment name
roughly when it happened
what you saw on screen, or the exact message

Students don’t have support chat. If you’re a student, ask your teacher.

Last updated 19 September 2026

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​Check these first

​At setup: the handout

​After upload: a student’s file

​Handwritten work

​Still need help?

​Related tasks

Check these first

At setup: the handout

After upload: a student’s file

Handwritten work

Still need help?

Related tasks