How do I check if my resume is ATS-friendly?
To check a resume, upload your PDF or Word file to FixDoks's ATS resume checker. It runs rule-based checks on contact details, headings, bullets, action verbs, numbers, length and layout, then lists what to fix. Paste a job description to also see which keywords you match. No sign-in is needed.
ATS Resume Checker at a glance
| Input | PDF or Word resume |
|---|---|
| Checks | Rule-based, plus job keyword match |
| Sign-in | Not needed |
| Processing | On our server over HTTPS; files are deleted right after conversion |
| Max file size | 50 MB per file |
| Price | Free to use, no watermark |
| Download | First download free, then ₹49 for 2 months of unlimited downloads (US$3 outside India) |
| Files at once | 1 free, up to 30 with a plan |
| Works on | Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone |
How to use ATS Resume Checker and Free Resume Score
- Upload your resume as a PDF or Word file.
- Optional: paste the job description you are applying for, to compare keywords.
- Click check and read the score and the list of issues, grouped by importance.
- Fix the issues, then edit them in the resume builder if you want a cleaner layout.
What an ATS actually is
ATS stands for applicant tracking system. It is the software many employers use to collect applications, pull out the text of each resume, and let recruiters search and filter. It is not one product and it does not behave the same way everywhere, so no checker can promise that your resume will pass. What a checker can do is find the common problems that make a resume hard to read, for both software and people.
What this checker looks at
The score comes from free, rule-based checks. They are the same every time you run them, so you can fix something and see the score move.
- Contact details: a name, an email address and a phone number that can be found.
- Length: whether the resume is a sensible size for your experience, and how many pages it runs to.
- Standard headings: labels like Experience, Education and Skills are easiest to recognise. Creative headings can confuse a parser.
- Bullets: whether achievements are written as short bullets rather than dense paragraphs.
- Action verbs: do your lines start with verbs such as led, built, reduced or launched?
- Measurable results: numbers, percentages and amounts that show scale.
- First-person pronouns: "I" and "my" are usually left out of resumes.
- Buzzwords: empty phrases that say little, such as "hard-working team player".
- Dates: consistent, easy-to-read dates for each role and course.
- Layout: whether the layout looks safe for text extraction.
- Photo advice: a note based on the country you are applying in.
Add a job description for keyword match
Recruiters often search by the words in the job ad. If you paste the description, the checker compares it with your resume and shows which keywords are present and which are missing. Use this honestly. Add a missing skill only if you really have it, and put it where it fits, such as a bullet that shows you used it, not a pile of words at the bottom.
Layout traps that cause trouble
| Problem | Why it hurts | Better |
|---|---|---|
| Text inside images | Cannot be read as text | Real, selectable text |
| Tables and text boxes for the whole page | Reading order can scramble | Single column |
| Contact info in the page header | Some parsers skip headers | Put it in the body at the top |
| Icons instead of words | The phone icon is not read as "phone" | Plain labels or plain text |
| Skill bars and star ratings | No real information for a parser | Name the skill, list it |
Reading your results
Do not chase a perfect number. A score is a guide to the easy wins. Fix the high-importance items first: missing contact details, unclear headings, no numbers anywhere, and paragraphs where bullets should be. Then think about the rest. A resume with a slightly lower score but honest, specific content is better than one stuffed to please a checker.
Common reasons for a low score
- The resume is a scan or a photo of a printout, so there is no text to read.
- Every line describes duties ("responsible for sales") and none shows a result.
- Dates are missing or written in several different styles.
- The file runs to three or four pages for someone with a few years of experience.
- The email address or phone number sits only inside a graphic.
Each of these is quick to fix once you can see it listed.
After the check
If the layout is the problem, rebuild it in the AI resume builder, where five templates are single column and marked ATS-safe. If you need to send a Word file as a PDF, use Word to PDF. Many portals also set a file size limit, which compress PDF can help with. To strengthen weak lines, see the bullet point generator and the summary generator.