Ask the employer first
A lost pay stub is a copy of a record that already exists. The employer or payroll provider who paid the wages is the right place to ask for a reprint. They can see the original hours, rates, taxes, and year-to-date totals.
A formatting tool cannot look up what was paid. If you do not have the numbers, do not invent them.
What a replacement should match
A reprint should show the same employer name, employee name, pay period, pay date, gross pay, each tax line, and the year-to-date column as the original payroll run. Those figures are a record of wages actually paid.
Federal income tax on this site is a 2026 estimate from IRS Publication 15-T. State tables are labeled 2024. Neither line is a certified payroll result.
When a generator is only a formatter
If you already know the wages, taxes, and dates, you can create a free pay stub so the layout is readable. Free: 3 PDFs every 24 hours. Type the numbers you already have. Leave bank fields blank unless you are copying numbers from the real payment.
The PDF is a worksheet-style record. It is not an official document, and it does not prove income to anyone.
Do not misrepresent income
Do not build a stub to stand in for wages that were not paid, and do not send a generated PDF to a lender, a landlord, or a benefits office as if the employer issued it. That is a misrepresentation. Real employee and contractor records only.
What to keep in the file
Employers should keep the payroll register, the wage rates, the hours, and the tax deposits that support each stub. An employee who lost a copy should keep the reprint the employer sends, next to the W-2 at year end.