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Participating Frequently
June 30, 2022
Answered

ERROR: The project appears to be damaged, it cannot be opened. HELP

  • June 30, 2022
  • 13 replies
  • 45625 views

Hey,

Whenever I open my project in premiere pro, I get the error message above. I have already been looking for solutions, but opening an auto-saved file or a save file from earlier, it still gives me the same error message. I cannot even get into the project screen to save it to another place.

PLEASE HELP.

Correct answer @mj

Hi @Jan de Laat 

 

Seems like you have a corrupted project file.

 

Try the suggestions here. https://youtu.be/pvNtlXD5p7k

 

Let us know how you go

mj

13 replies

Community Expert
June 30, 2022

are you editing on an external drive? try moving everything locally.

did you try to start a fresh new project and import the damaged one into it?

reset premiere pro preferences.

Clean your media cache

I would try xml wrench but their website is http which is not secure

try what we ussually do to downgrade to previous premiere pro versions (maybe it works):

1. create a copy of your project file (DO NOT WORK ON THE ORIGINAL PROJECT FILE)

2. right click on it and open with 7zip(you can install it for free)

3. select open archive in 7zip

4. right click the file and click on Edit

5. go to line number 4 and change the last number in the line (version = x) to = 1

save the file and open

Participating Frequently
June 30, 2022

Thanks for your reply, I will take a look at your suggestions in detail in an hour or two. I will let you know if it works!

@mj
Community Expert
@mjCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 30, 2022

Hi @Jan de Laat 

 

Seems like you have a corrupted project file.

 

Try the suggestions here. https://youtu.be/pvNtlXD5p7k

 

Let us know how you go

mj

Participating Frequently
June 30, 2022

I will try out deleting my preferences, but the other suggestion from that video I already tried, without succes. Thanks for your reply, I will let you know if it works.

Inspiring
June 30, 2022

A few things to try.

 

Reset your Premiere Pro preferences.

With Premiere Pro closed, navigate to the preferences file and move it to another location. 

By default, the preferences files are located here:

  • Windows: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Adobe\Premiere Pro\<version>\Profile-<profilename>\Adobe Premiere Pro Prefs
  • macOS: /Users/<username>/Documents/Adobe/Premiere Pro/<version>/Adobe Premiere Pro Prefs

The next time you open Premiere Pro, it creates a new preference file.

More details here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/reset-preferences.html 

 

Then launch Premiere Pro by launching from the app - not from any existing project. Basically you want to open a fresh new project and see if that works. 

If it does - clear your 'cache' files

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/faq-how-to-clear-your-media-cache-in-premiere-pro/td-p/11017257 

now try launching one of your problem projects by using 'open project' from the file menu.

If that does not work try 'importing' one of your problem projects.

In a fresh Premiere Pro project go to the file menu and select 'import' - choose one of your old projects and follow the prompts to import 'entire project'.

All the best and good luck. If none of this works, others here may have suggestions - so report back

+ provide some details about your OS and the computer and the version of Premiere Pro you are using. 

 

Participating Frequently
June 30, 2022

Thanks for the thorough reply. I will take a look at it in detail in an hour or two. I will let you know if it works!