Premiere Pro 26.5.2 (Build 5) – Project corruption after failed read-only save

I've discovered a reproducible issue that can result in project corruption and loss of work.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create a new, empty project.

2. Save the project to the local Windows desktop.

3. In Windows Explorer, set the .prproj file to Read-only.

4. Return to Premiere and save the project. Premiere correctly reports that the file is read-only.

5. In Windows Explorer, remove the Read-only attribute.

6. Return to Premiere and save again.

Actual result:

Premiere reports that the project has saved successfully, but the resulting .prproj file is approximately 1 KB and is corrupt.

Expected result:

Premiere should save a valid project once write access is restored, or report an error if it cannot do so.

Real-world scenario – Perforce version control:

I'm using Perforce to manage my Premiere project files. My normal workflow is to check out a project file, make changes, save it, and submit it back to Perforce.

I accidentally saved my project in Premiere after submitting it to Perforce, while the file was read-only. Premiere correctly reported that the save had failed.

I then checked the file back out in Perforce, making it writable again, and saved the project in Premiere. Premiere reported that the save was successful, so I submitted the file back to Perforce.

Unfortunately, this had silently corrupted the project file, replacing it with a 1 KB file.

I've since reproduced the issue with a completely new project on my Windows desktop, without involving Perforce.

Severity: High – Potential data loss

This is particularly serious for anyone using version control, where project files are routinely switched between read-only and writable states.

A failed save appears to leave Premiere in a state where subsequent saves can silently corrupt the project, even after write access has been restored.

Premiere should never report a successful save when the resulting project file is corrupt.

OS: Windows 11

Version    10.0.26200 Build 26200

Nvidia GTX 5090 driver 617.14