Revit file cannot be opened in Revit because of Version issues

Revit file cannot be opened in Revit because of file was saved using an unsupported version

Issue:

When opening a file using Revit, the following error message appears:

(File name).rvt cannot be opened in Revit. The version of Revit used to save the file is not readable by this version of Revit.

Solution:

To resolve this issue, try one or more of the following:

BIM 360 Models:

  • If the model was saved from the cloud (BIM 360) it may be a misnamed zip file. Try renaming the file to (file name).zip, and then extracting. If the zip extracts to RVTs (host and linked files) try opening the extracted model.
  • If opening the model through the Desktop Connector, try copying locally, then rename to a zip file as described in the previous bullet point.

Version mismatch:

  • This error can occur when trying to open a newer version file in an older version of Revit. For example, trying to open a 2021 RVT file in Revit LT 2020. Confirm the version of the project file, and that the version opening the file is the same or newer.

Remote (network) files:

  • Copy the model locally (outside Revit) and open it.
  • If the file does not open from the local hard drive, try using a full version of Revit to open the file.
  • Trial can be downloaded for the full version and can be used for 30 days.
    • Note: If the model does not open in a full version of Revit the model may be corrupted.