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 Non-Adobe apps and scripts are often outdated and may cause crashes and data loss.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

[Peru Bob]

@Roberto Stave34333441vzfp 

Adobe has said that 26.2 should be released soon.

[MyerPj]

Understood. Glad you got it working. 🙂

[petri_7_7]

If you use beta and save, you can no longer open that with a normal/stable release of Premiere, even it it would be the next version (like beta 26.0, then normal 27 will not work)

[federicovolter]

Volodymyr saved my ass !!!!!!!!! I hope Adobe wakes up and do something useful soon enough !!!!!!!!!

[shadiego]

What the hell have you done? I can't access my projects with either 25.6.1 or 25.6.2. It says they were edited in a newer version of Premiere and can't be opened.

[Greg Sandor]

Peru Bob is right! By installing the Beta version, you can open your project. Also: the Beta Premiere Pro and the 2025 can coexist, so the operating system will offer you the choice, which one you'd like to use. 

[danielchisholm]

Is there an update on timelines for this fix? Would be great to get an idea when / if the solution might be available. Thanks! 

[mattlth]

Unbelievably, 25.6.2 STILL won't open my projects saved in 25.6.0. I have to use the beta to get any work done on existing projects.

[Peru Bob]

@mattlth 

If you save it in the Beta, will 25.6.2 open it?

[R Neil Haugen]

That's due to the 25.6.0 version having internally set the version number in the Project file to the number for the upcoming 26.x series. You can go online and get the directions for changing a Premiere version number in the project file. It's very easy to do.

The .prproj file is actually a zipped file ... and the instructions include simply unzipping the file, changing the 2 digit number in about line four or so to the correct number, which would be one digit less than it would be showing. Re-zip and it should be good to go.

I've done this several times for various reasons. Takes a minute or so.

[Phillip26379407ozko]

Looking forward to a solution. Thanks!

[kasiditj89895789]

Premiere Pro 25.6.1 sucks!
My Premiere Pro just updated automatically, and it's causing me a lot of problems. It even happened on the day the client made the edit before it was actually used. The client blamed me for my inability to work, even though I didn't know what was going on. That's why I blamed myself.
If this continues, I'll be permanently switching to Davinci and canceling my Adobe Cloud subscription, which I've been a customer of since my student days (15 years).
And now, I still can't recover the backlog, I can only wait..which makes me very, very disappointed.

[Puffancs]

25.6.2 is out! That solves the project compatibility issue, unless you opened it in beta. If you did, you are still stuck with beta.

But hey, the glass is half full.

[sdis61]

Même avec le correctif de ce matin (25.6.2 build 1) les fichiers récents enregistrés avec la v25.5 ne s'ouvre plus (message d'erreur). Ce qui est étonnant c'est que j'arrive à ouvrir des fichiers plus anciens voire très anciens (24.x) !!!!

[Petit-Caux]

Même souci ici, la mise à jour 25.6.2 ne règle pas le problème d'ouverture des fichiers enregistrés en 25.6 . Je ne peux pas travailler sur mes projets récents à moins de les ouvrir en version Beta, sinon ça me met le message suivant :

[defaultc7r7z4f8pdm2]

Any news on when this issue will be solved? My work is stuck since the update. This is the worst and most damaging bug I have ever witnessed.

[defaultc7r7z4f8pdm2]

I didn't open my projects in beta, but I still have the same compatibility issue after updating do 25.6.2

[ANTHONY24908460r3tp]

New issue for me with 25.6.2, when opening a project that was saved yesterday on the latest release, I now get a message saying "This project was saved in a newer version of Premiere and cannot be opened"
It wasn't opened in Beta, but I did try to enable the new masking (which never worked) so I'm guessing it's something to do with a preferences conflict.

[enzosvera]

I have this problem with a client project to whom I owe an explanation. It's 2025, the 21st century, and AI is breathing down our necks, and we, the users, are the ones who pay the price. We're waiting for "band-aid" solutions, as they're commonly called. I'm paying for a product, and I shouldn't be the guinea pig for problems and protocols that you should be resolving internally.

[Ann Bens]

Might want to make it clear somewhere on the forum the 25.6.2 only fixes the mogrt issue from Ae and not the cannot open project issue

[jordanbattiste]

Are they forcing us to use Premiere Beta? Seems like a suspicious move for Adobe

[sdis61]

J'ai trouvé une solution mais c'est pas la vrai solution !... Comme les fichiers sont sur le OneDrive de chez Microsoft, je fais un clic-droit sur le fichier et sélectionne Historique des version, puis Restaurer sur une version antérieure du fichier. Ce fichier antérieur s'ouvre dans la 25.6.2 !

[defaultvl6pj8m1ri1g]

25.6.2 does not solve the "previous version" issue.

[MeKevinB]

I think I'm going to wait for version 26 and beyond, maybe. I may live on version 25.5 forever. This is madness.

[Zesty_teacher]

I updated to the latest version to resolve the Object Masking issue, but I lost access to the last file I was working on. Now I have another problem: the saved in a newer version issue.  I attempted to reinstall the previous version, cleared the media cache, imported the file into a new project, and opened the .prproj with SV Code, but none of these steps worked. Is there any way to recover the file?