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Francis-Crossman17221443
Community Manager
Francis-Crossman17221443Community Manager
Principal Product Manager
September 5, 2023

Premiere projects saved in v25.6.0 cannot be opened in other v25.x versions

  • September 5, 2023
  • 172 replies
  • 20350 views

We are aware that customers who saved projects in Premiere v25.6.0 may find that those files now open only in v26 (beta) and cannot be opened in v25 versions. We know this is disruptive, and we’re working on a fix. 

 

What you need to know: 

  • Projects saved in v25.6.0 save in the v26 version format. 
  • Because of this, they can’t be opened in earlier versions, including v25.6.1 (even though it is the current generally available release) 
  • We’re developing a tool that will let you convert affected projects back to a v25-compatible file.  

 

Our Solution 

We’re building a small app that will convert a v25.6.0-saved project back to the v25 format. We’ll share more information, including availability and instructions, as soon as the tool is ready in the coming days.  

 

We know that there is nothing more important than the reliability of a project file, so we’re working with urgency to get this downgrade tool in your hands as quickly as possible. 

 

We know there are a number of downgrading apps available online, but we strongly recommend utilizing our tool when it becomes available. Non-Adobe apps and scripts are often outdated and may cause crashes and data loss.  

 

Further Details 

A bug caused Premiere v25.6.0 to prompt customers to enable Object Masking even though it is not yet in full release. Object Masking (and our yearly major version update) changes the Premiere project file structure such that it can only be opened in v26, which is only available in public beta. Turning this on caused projects to save in the newer v26 project format, even though users were still technically on the v25 release line. 

 

Opening an older project in v25.6.0 triggered a prompt to save a copy of the project with “_1” appended. We know that many customers upgraded the project and continued working in the new copy, potentially also deleting the original. This means the only active version became the file saved in v26 format. 

 

Premiere 25.6.0 was only available briefly before being replaced by 25.6.1 and is no longer available to reinstall. This means impacted users who auto updated to 25.6.1 cannot open v26 formatted projects. 

    172 replies

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    A
    alain_lizarraga
    Participant
    November 19, 2025

    Hello Adobe Team and Community,

    I recently updated Adobe Premiere Pro to version 25.6.1, and now I’m facing a major issue. I had a project that was almost finished and only needed rendering, but after the update, Premiere refuses to open it. The error says the project was created in a newer version, which makes no sense because I just updated.

    I tried opening the project in After Effects and Media Encoder, but neither recognizes it—even the auto-save copies in the designated folder fail to open. This project is highly sensitive and time-critical, and this situation is causing extreme frustration and anger.

    When will this be fixed? Is there any official workaround or patch coming soon? This kind of compatibility issue is unacceptable for professional workflows.

    Thank you for any guidance or immediate solution.

      A
      Andrew24368092ly4w
      Participant
      November 19, 2025

      I updated to 25.6 and created a new project file. Now that I have updated to 25.6.1, I am getting dialogue with the 25.6 projects that my project was saved in a newer version of Premiere and cannot be opened with this version. Tried going down to 25.5 and that didn't help. Tried re-installing and that didn't help. Tried booting it from an auto-save and that didn't help. Now I'm stuck with my project being inaccessible and I made a lot of edits...

        N
        Neo_Production1868
        Participant
        November 19, 2025

        The software was updated today. I can no longer work on my projects. I don't understand what's happening.

        1

         

          Puffancs
          Puffancs
          Participating Frequently
          November 19, 2025

          Same here.

          Beta can open theese projects, but the official version can't.

          This happens with every project that has been created with the last version, which shouldn't have come out. I think it was v26.0.

           

            Ron Rigler
            Community Manager
            Ron RiglerCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            November 19, 2025

            Interesting. You should have seen a prompt when you opened the 25.5 project. This wshould leave the original project un-modified. Can you please double check that the original 25.5 project is not available? You may also be able to open the project in the current 26.0 beta. 

            MyerPj
            Community Expert
            MyerPjCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            November 19, 2025

            @Ann Bens , @Stan Jones 

            The changing the version number is not working consitently currently in, 25.6.1 (and 25.5) are not opening them, I'm not sure if there is some change in the .pproj files, but I'll keep an eye out on that.

            B
            BamBamKammm
            Participating Frequently
            November 19, 2025

            Yes I clicked enable on the "enable new masking" feature a few times when it first popped up.

            Ron Rigler
            Community Manager
            Ron RiglerCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            November 19, 2025

            When you opened the 25.5 project in 25.6, did you see the prompt asking to enable the masking feature? If so, did you select to enable it or skip? Sorry for the confusion this issue introduced.

            B
            BamBamKammm
            Participating Frequently
            November 19, 2025

            No unfortunately there was no prompt. It opened straight away without my timeline/sequences.

            Ron Rigler
            Community Manager
            Ron RiglerCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            November 19, 2025

            @BamBamKammm when you opened the 25.5 project in 25.6, you should have seen a prompt asking you to convert the project. The original 25.5 project should not have been modified in this case. Did you see such a prompt and do you still have access to to the original 25.5 project? The original project should open in 25.6.1 without issue.

            B
            BamBamKammm
            Participating Frequently
            November 19, 2025

            Can any Adobe Employee please try answering this post. I created a project in 25.5 and completely finished it in 25.5. I then upgraded to the 25.6, and ended up clicking that"enable masking feature" button that ive read "results in data loss". I opened that same project i finished in 25.5 into 25.6. It came up with nothing in my timeline, no sequences. I downgraded back to 25.5, and all those project files/auto saves from the project in 25.5 say they have 8 KB in them. Every single one. Yes I upgraded to 25.6.1 and this didnt solve anything. I opened them in the Beta, didnt solve anything. I tried everything. I dont necessarily need help fixing these projects, I just hope to understand why this happened to all my auto saves. I haven't seen anyone with this same issue. Again my project was made in 25.5 and I only tried opening the main project file in 25.6. Since then my auto saves all say 8 KB/missing my timeline.

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