Finding old PDF file

If the following Spotlight query fails to find the PDF created after Jan 1 2022 on your local drive:

kind:pdf created:>01/01/2022

Then, provided you have a Time Machine backup drive mounted with content dating back to early 2022, you can launch /Applications/Time Machine.app and select a 2022 date on the side time graduation scale. The Time Machine Finder window will take some time to update. Then in that Window's search field, enter one of the following depending on whether you remember the partial case-insensitive name string in the filename:

kind:pdf
kind:pdf name:partialname

You may need to play with the date on the right side of the screen to narrow your search, and once the PDF makes an appearance, click to select, and then click Time Machine's Restore button.

There is no magic. If you can’t find the file, restore it from a backup.

I have never experienced disappearance of time gradations on the right side of the Time Machine restore panel. There are up/down increment arrows by the Window, but that is SLOW… navigation.

Since you are using an iMac and Ventura, visit System Settings : Displays and experiment with the settings. Mine is set to More Space. See if changing one of these settings reveals the time gradations.