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 Non-Adobe apps and scripts are often outdated and may cause crashes and data loss.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. 

[Sebastien35330504q8og]

Yes, but the last 3 projects I worked on were saved in the latest version....

[Anatoliy5E1B]

Yeah, same for me and now the project is wiped out. I'm beyond mad. 

[Stan Jones]

@Anatoliy5E1B,

Beyond.

This is what I find as the official recommendation from Adobe on downgrading a project:

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/video/backward-compatibility-video.html

It would only be helpful if you can work in the current version to export EDL.

Be sure to keep backups of every project step until you get this sorted.

[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.]

And see @Ann Bens' comment on masking:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-bugs/issue-with-25-6-update/idc-p/15590060#M57851

You can also install the Beta separately from the Release version, to try to continue editing your project there, or export EDL/XML etc. You can install the newest version Beta 26.0.0 (which is the new project file version 44), or the previous Beta 25.6.0 which saved projects in the newer version when the new masking was enabled.

I generally do not recommend the Beta for production work, but you face poor alternatives. See my post here regarding some issues in using the Beta:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-beta-discussions/new-beta-uninstall-reset-or-just-update...

@jamieclarke Is there a better staff recommendation for someone who did significant work in the new version?

Stan

[mayank_moe]

Now what do i do. i worked on the 25.6 version from the last 2 days and now i cannot revisit the older project files because i reverted back from 25.6 to 25.5
After Effects still shows that there is a 25.6 version ready to install. i do not know if i should install it or no.

i got to know about this issue when i was trying to import clips in after effects with dynamic link.
now i have 3 hours of progress lost.
helpe me find a solution for reverting the version of the project file

[Anatoliy5E1B]

@Stan Jones 
I can not open the project at all. The beta version opens it as empty project. Tried @Tarveil's recommendation, but it didn't work out. 

[Ann Bens]

If you follow the instructions to the letter, it works

Used it many times

Open a New Premiere Pro Project on an Older Version -Mac - YouTube

Open a New Premiere Pro Project on an Older Version - Windows - YouTube

[Stan Jones]

@Anatoliy5E1B,

> The beta version opens it as empty project.

Sorry to hear it. That sounds like something more than just needing to downgrade the project.

Stan

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Anatoliy5E1B - If you need to get your timeline back into version 25.5, try exporting it as an FCP XML or AAF, then import that file into a Premiere Pro 25.5 project.

[Digifé]

Ann Bens,

When you followed this YouTube video, how did you accomplish the archive step?  The default archive in Mac OS doesn't have an "Extract Here" option.

[Srfaye327]

So I was one of the few who updated to 25.6 and I ended up converting a project before hearing that I shouldn't. I'm still pretty early on (assembly phase) in what will end up being a documentary short (8-12 min). After the issues became clear, I rolled back to PP 25.5, but of course my project file didn't open in it. I downloaded PP Beta and I've been able to continue working on the 25.6 project in there, but I'm concerned that the project file will end up breaking down the road since it was never supposed to be converted in the first place. Anyone have any thoughts on that here? There doesn't seem to be an easy to way convert the project file back down to PP 25.5. I tried using the export as Final Cut XML tool, but I've gotten pretty terrible results - the first try only imported a fraction of the files and sequences, and the second try didn't even work at all (import error message in PP 25.5). I've already wasted quite a bit of time on this so I may just need to keep using PP Beta.

[Srfaye327]

I just tried this and got this error when trying to open the new file in PP 25.5

[R Neil Haugen]

A good share of the time users have worked successfully with the public beta without any issues. Hopefully that will work for you. I know last year I did a lot in the PB version. During the time when the PB and release were the same version especially, in order to do things in the PB.

Sometime relatively soon ... the 26.x release will happen. Normally it's happened the first day of Adobe MAX, which is now about two weeks past, so it's late this year. I was kinda suprised we were getting another 25.x build. 

[MyerPj]

@R Neil Haugen 

<<I was kinda suprised we were getting another 25.x build. >>

Yes, me too, I wonder what's up with that? Plus it is acting like 26.0 would in wanting to convert the project.

[R Neil Haugen]

They took the new awesome masking tool from the public beta and dropped it into this build, so I think there's something there that thinks it's 26.x.

[Michael300745153vnx]

3 days on still no fix? Sounds like its a bigger problem than just the pop up asking about the beta feature. Sounds more like someone uploaded the whole 26.0 Beta version and labelled it 25.6 lol

[Michael300745153vnx]

I got excited when the new UXP developer tools said it was supported in 25.6 as I have made a UXP plugin that I'm waiting to use and distribute team wide.. But alas, 25.6 was retracted and we are still waiting.

[MeKevinB]

That hyperlink on Step 2 does not link to downgrading Premiere Pro. It's steps for downgrading to a previous cloud document. Very helpful, not really.

[Herbie787]

No matter how many times I hit "skip", this AI garbage keeps popping up every time I open PP.

How do I get rid of it? 

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Herbie787 - There was an issue with version 25.6.  Please uninstall and rollback to version 25.5. I will merge your post with the primary post so that you are notified when there is an update.

[Herbie787]

Thanks Jamie 

[xstimux]

When is this fix happening? I updated project and half my team didn't and they cannot use my project files.

[MyerPj]

@xstimux 

Per @Francis-Crossman  Original post up top, use step 3

3. If any of your projects went through the project upgrade path, you will have a backup.  Look for the project with “_1” added to the end. You can delete this version.  The version without “_1” is the unaffected original 25.5 version project.

[markytocks]

It's unfortunate that they want us to roll back to 25.5. But I already edited and dedicated days of work since it was released, and I can't revert back to the 25.5 project. On my end, I just skipped the AI-powered prompt, but cannot use Dynamic Link to After Effects now (clips won't link or appear on AE), we're at this stage of editing in AE. The project is in a rush, and I'm currently in a huge disadvantage until the fix/new version is released.

[vinnydego]

There's actually an easy way to revert project files back to older versions.   Follow this guys tutorial.  The program he mentions, Keka costs 6 bucks but its worth it.  Ive done it for a few project files and its worked everytime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ecJNJsnn8

[rachelle_0945]

Hi all! I am on version 25.6. I am on Windows 11, Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 5 125U, 3600 Mhz, 12 Core(s), 14 Logical Processor(s), 16GB RAM.
Some intial information that may be relevant - I don't know: I keep getting the annoying AI tracking thing, and I clicked yes (it still keeps popping up regardless), but clicking yes the first time upgraded my Premiere so that the current project I'm working on had to be upgraded to. 

Issue 1: Proxy audio cutting out - I record with the DJI Osmo (do not request that I change this lol), and I used to edit with it (albeit, roughly, having to force close Premiere Pro every 30m). I tried to make Proxies in Media Encoder, but through this website, I found that Adobe can't encode VFR proxies, so I used Shutter Encoder to encode into Prores. With my proxies, I had glaring issues intially, but at a certain point, my audio would suddenly cut out. If I pause and hit play again (there is a lot of lag), the audio plays again, so it's not the proxies that don't have audio. Additionally, I checked the proxy itself and the audio is fine. I kept by just toggling proxies on and off when I needed to (some clips I edit don't need audio).

Issue 2: Video will NOT play Then I got to a certain point in my video, and the playback just stopped working. I waited for 10 minutes, and normally yes, I have lag, but it does not last this long. The frame was frozen but when I moved the playhead, the transcript would shift, but the video itself would not. I tried multiple things to fix this; clearing cache, resetting preferences, resetting workflow. Additionally, my imported files are taking an abnormally long amount of time to load in Premiere.

Issue 3: Waveform won't show After I did this, now when I open Premiere, the waveform on my audios won't show, but the audio plays fine. The video playbacked for a LITTLE BIT, but currently I am back to the video being frozen. I tried settings like "show waveform" (the only thing that worked was Render and Replace), but it's pretty tedious to do it for each audio, and since my audio still plays this is a minimal issue.

Issue 4: Text panel won't open I keep clicking Window > Text, and it just won't open. Other windows open in the same panel, like effect controls, but for some reason Text just won't open.

All of these issues persist over numerous closing and reopenings of Premiere. If anyone has some advice, I'd really appreciate it - I'm trying to complete this project by end of day or honestly Monday before 6PM!