InDesign 2020 won't open 2015-2016 Indesign Files

[Design Stream]

I am trying to open several older InDesign files from an archive, but when the files open, there are gray pictures boxes, links are broken. When I try to do a save as to update the file to 2020, the file won't save. When I try to download an older version of InDesign, I get the message that doing this will overwrite my 2020 version of InDesign. Any suggestions?

[BobLevine]

Why do you say they won't open? They do open, but you've lost all your links.

We need way more detail on how you archived and then restored those files.

[Design Stream]

Sorry, I used incorrect wording. They do open but I'm unable to work in or resave them. I collected the files for output back when the jobs were complete and left them alone until now, so I didn't do anything special. It's not been a problem to open old InDesign files until recently.

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

When I try to download an older version of InDesign, I get the message that doing this will overwrite my 2020 version of InDesign.

That sounds like you are trying to install an older version of 2020 (v15), but if the older version works, that might be OK until this gets resolved. You might try installing 2019 (v14), which will leave 2020 alone. 

As for the issue at hand, are you working with a zipped folder, by any chance? Try right-clicking the project folder to see if unzipping is an option. My Windows students routinely neglect to unzip folders. Windows will open a zipped file and show the contents, but when they try to open the .indd file, the links are broken (until they unzip).

~Barb