# The formatted CV looks wrong

> Sections missing, roles attributed to the wrong employer, or content in an unexpected order — how to diagnose and fix a bad parse.

Source: https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/formatting-looks-wrong
Last updated: 2026-08-21

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Most RemakeCV formatting problems come from the source document rather than a setting. Reprocess first — it costs no credit and sometimes resolves an ambiguous layout. If the second pass matches the first, the document is being read as well as it will be, so correct the specific fields in the editor rather than reprocessing again.

## Diagnose by symptom

| Symptom | Most likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A whole section is missing | Heading not recognised, or it was an image | Add the section in the editor; see below |
| Content in the wrong order | Multi-column layout read across instead of down | [Jumbled and multi-column CVs](https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/jumbled-and-multi-column-cvs.md) |
| Bullets under the wrong role | Several roles at one employer | Reassign in the editor |
| A client name shown as the employer | Genuinely ambiguous in the source | Correct the employer field |
| Garbled or run-together words | OCR on a poor scan | [Scanned PDFs and OCR](https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/scanned-pdfs-and-ocr.md) |
| Dates wrong or missing | Non-standard date format in the source | Correct the dates |
| Sections in the wrong order | Template setting, not extraction | [Section order](https://www.remakecv.com/help/templates-and-branding/date-formats-and-sections.md) |
| Fonts or spacing off in Word | Font substitution | [DOCX won't open correctly](https://www.remakecv.com/help/troubleshooting/docx-wont-open.md) |

## The diagnostic sequence

### Compare against the original

Open the source document alongside the editor. Confirm the content you expect is actually in the source — a surprising share of "missing section" reports turn out to be missing from the candidate's CV too.

### Reprocess once

Free. On genuinely ambiguous layouts a second pass can resolve differently.

### If the result is identical, stop reprocessing

Two matching passes mean the document is being read consistently. Further attempts will not help.

### Fix the specific fields in the editor

Targeted correction is faster than fighting the parse. See [reviewing and editing](https://www.remakecv.com/help/formatting-cvs/reviewing-and-editing.md).

### For a bad source, get a better one

A Word version instead of a scan moves the input from the worst category to the best. One email to the candidate beats an hour of correction.

### If it recurs, tell us

A layout that consistently parses wrong is something we can address at the pipeline level. Email support@remakecv.com with the source file.

## Why is content sometimes "missing"?

It is not deleted. Extraction identifies content by recognising structure, and where structure is not recognised the content does not get placed.

The recurring causes:

- **A heading rendered as an image**, common in designed CVs. There is no text to recognise.
- **An unusual heading** — "My Journey" instead of "Work Experience".
- **A sidebar** whose content was not associated with the section it visually belongs to.
- **A text layer so sparse** that OCR was triggered, and OCR missed a low-contrast region.

> **Tip:** 
If a section is missing, check whether the heading in the original is a graphic. Select the heading text in the source PDF — if you cannot select it, it is an image, and that explains the miss.

## What can I fix permanently?

If the same correction recurs on every CV, it is configuration rather than extraction:

| Recurring correction | Permanent fix |
|---|---|
| Reordering sections | Set section order in your template |
| Renaming a heading | Set the heading in your template |
| Reformatting dates | Set the date format |
| Removing a section you never use | Hide it at template level |

See [date formats, section order and headings](https://www.remakecv.com/help/templates-and-branding/date-formats-and-sections.md).

## What to send support

If you need us to look at it, send the **source file** and a description of what should have happened. The formatted output alone does not show us why extraction made the decision it made.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does reprocessing cost a credit?

No. Reprocessing an existing CV is explicitly exempt, so you can retry freely.

### Why is a whole section missing?

The section was not recognised during extraction — usually because of an unusual heading, a graphical heading in a scanned CV, or a layout that broke the reading order. The content is not deleted; it was not detected.

### Should I re-upload or edit?

Reprocess once. If it comes back the same, edit. Repeated reprocessing of a document that parses consistently will not change the outcome.