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

[Francis-Crossman]

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 have provided an app to fix the issue. 

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) 

Our Solution 

We have built an app that will convert a v25.6.0-saved project back to the v25 format. This app is now available:

• Windows
• Macintosh

The app is able to process one or more files simultaneously. If you have any questions or comments about the app, please let us know via a comment in this thread.

Note: We know there are a number of downgrading apps available online, but we strongly recommend not using these. Non-Adobe apps and scripts are often outdated and may cause crashes and data loss.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. 

[Piotr Gardecki]

Unfortunately, I gave up — even export stopped working, so I'm rolling back to the previous version.

[CYRKLAF.EU36872083wt9s]

Hi,
Today I created a new project in Adobe Premiere. I cut a film about 2 hours long, turned off AP, came back, turned AP back on, and unfortunately, I can't open the project because it says the project was created in a newer version, but I have the latest one...

The second problem is that when I select a section of the film in AP and click "Replace with After Effect Composition," it opens AE and creates a new composition. The composition time is correct, but the audio and video are missing.

How can I fix this? I'm currently unable to work in AP or AE, and I won't be editing the film from scratch in the older version because I've invested a lot of time.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Xhr1stt @CYRKLAF.EU36872083wt9s - 

Please uninstall 25.6 and continue to use 25.5

In the Creative Cloud Desktop app, click the Apps tab in the sidebar.
Locate the Premiere Pro box, then click the three dots in the lower left corner of the panel.
Select Other versions, and from the list, choose Premiere Pro (25.5).

Sorry for the frustration.

[CYRKLAF.EU36872083wt9s]

I did downgrade, but now I have:

[crabspanner]

ProRes 4444 exports are always entirely black for sequences sent from Premeire 25.6. This was not a problem in 25.5. 

Tried downgrading Media Encoder to 25.5 but the problem persists and seems to be caused by Premiere.

Swtiching the export setting to ProRes 422 or other codecs seems to work fine. Happens with any sequence anmd any source media I've tried. 

Anyone else seeing this?

MacOS 15.6.1
MacStudio M3 Ultra

128GB RAM

[jamieclarke]

Hi @crabspanner -   Thanks for submitting your bug report. We need a few more details to try to help with the issue.

If you make a new project and import one piece of media in 25.5 do you still have the same issue?

Can you try and hold down "SHIFT" while launching Premiere and check the boxes
"Reset app preferences" (Backup Preferences first)
"Clear media cache files"
"Reset plugin loading cache"


Sorry for the frustration.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @CYRKLAF.EU36872083wt9s - You should still have your older project.  When projects get upgraded they save as a _1 at the end so that your original project is intact. 

If you’ve enabled the masking feature in 25.6, you’ll also need to clear out some preference data before reinstalling:
Remove the 25.0 Preferences Folder

• Windows: C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Premiere Pro\25.0
• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Premiere Pro/25.0

You can safely delete the entire 25.0 folder.  

Please note that deleting the preference folder will reset all your preferences. 

We will update you as soon as the fix becomes available

[MyerPj]

Someone above said it was to be released on the 12th. Guess that was right! 🤷‍😊

[Francis-Crossman]

25.6 has been pulled.  A patch is in the works. It is not supposed to convert your project.  See the post here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/issue-with-25-6-update/idi-p/15589164

[Sherex]

My 25.6 is working properly, should I leave it like this? until new release?

Many thanks!

[Ron Rigler]

Are seeing a prompt to enable the new masking feature when you launch?

[Francis-Crossman]

If you did not see the dialogue to enable masking and/or you did not accept it, it's safe to continue using 25.6 but it is recommended to update as soon as we have a new version out. 

[Tarveil]

Earlier this week, I updated to v25.6 and I work multiples hours on a project.

Everything was fine but this morning, after an handling error or something, my Premiere Pro has reverted to an earlier version in v25.5.

After a few research I saw this post in Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/premiere/comments/1ovbctq/premiere_256_update_bug_and_status/

Now I cannot go back to v25.6 and I cannot open the project I worked multiples hours on.

Please, I need help quick because I have deadlines...

Thank you

[Tarveil]

I made a post about this : https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/i-cannot-open-my-v25-6-project/idi-p/15589804#M5779...

As I mentionned,v verything was fine but this morning, after an handling error or something, my Premiere Pro has reverted to an earlier version in v25.5.

But I worked on a project for multiple hours in v25.6 and now I cannot open it. How can I do ?

[Christiaan1]

How about After Effects 25.6 and Media Encoder 25.6?

They are still in the available updates list.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Tarveil - Did you follow the instructions from this post? Let us know if you need help and what you are seeing.

[Tarveil]

Hi,

Yes, I followed all the instructions but my projet was made in v25.6 so I could not open it.

[Moderator: Edited to remove instructions that could damage Premiere project files. Please refer to the first post in this thread for the correct information on how to downgrade a v25.6.0 project so that it can be opened in v25.6.1 or later.]

[crabspanner]

Thanks Jamie.

I uninstalled it as I needed to get some work done. I was going to try again today but it seems 25.6 has been removed as an option to update. Sounds like it was too buggy to release...

https://www.reddit.com/r/premiere/comments/1ovbctq/premiere_256_update_bug_and_status/

[Ann Bens]

Yeah that was me: deleted afterward as I thought the instructions in the Jamie post would do the trick .......

[Ann Bens]

BTW you need to check your masks when reverting to 25.5.

[Tarveil]

Thank you for sharing me this video, very helpful !!
What do you mean by checking my masks ?

[Ann Bens]

If you checked the new mask feature and made masks in 25.6 it might not be there in 25.5.

[Sebastien35330504q8og]

Multiple issues with Premiere Pro 25.6 (Build 116) and Media Encoder 25.6 (Build 98) - Win11 Pro : drag & drop not working + masking prompt loop

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing several issues since updating to the latest versions of Premiere Pro and Media Encoder.
My versions are:

Premiere Pro 25.6 (Build 116)

Media Encoder 25.6 (Build 98)

1. Drag & drop from Premiere to Media Encoder no longer works
If a project has been saved in Premiere 25.6, I can no longer drag & drop it into Media Encoder.
The only method that works is using “Send to Media Encoder” inside Premiere.
This is a real problem when exporting a large batch (e.g. 30+ video variations), since I have to send them one by one.

2. Media Encoder refuses to open the Premiere project
If I try to open the Premiere project directly from Media Encoder, I get the message:

“A newer version of Adobe Premiere Pro is required to open this project.”
Both apps are updated (25.6), but Media Encoder still refuses to open the project.

3. Endless loop with the “Enable new masking” prompt
Every time I launch Premiere, I get this dialog:

“Would you like to enable the new masking feature?”
If I click Enable, Premiere restarts… and shows the exact same prompt again.
This happens indefinitely.

I have to click Ignore to continue — but Premiere still saves projects in the latest format, which then causes incompatibility with Media Encoder (issue #1).

Is anyone else seeing this behavior?
Any workaround until Adobe addresses it?

Thanks,
— Sébastien

[Ann Bens]

25.6 Has been pulled, revert to 25.5.

[Anatoliy5E1B]

my project was wiped out because of this. Since I was working on it in version 25.6 I have saved it in that version. Tried the dynamic link with After effects and didn't work, thats why I decided to downgrade both programs. Now when I try to open the project it says that it has been saved in newer version. Tried with changing the version to 1, but nothing works, it opens empty project file.