Congratulations, You Just Broke Premiere
Why Upgrading Adobe Premiere Might Be the Worst Decision You Make This Week
So you’ve just opened Creative Cloud, and look at that — there’s a shiny new version of Adobe Premiere Pro! It's called something mysterious like Premiere Pro 2025 (But With More Bugs). You think: “Wow, this must be faster, better, stronger!” And then you click Update, because you are an optimist and also because Adobe has designed this button to look like it contains joy.
It does not contain joy.
Instead, it contains a thrilling grab-bag of workflow breakdowns, missing plugins, corrupted projects, and features that now behave like they’ve suffered a small stroke.
The “Oops, I Upgraded” Moment
Here’s the thing: Adobe doesn’t believe in backward compatibility. Once you open a Premiere project in a newer version, it is forever locked into that version like a cursed scroll. You can never go back. Not unless you perform arcane rituals that involve file renaming and lying to Premiere’s face.
And here’s the worst part: when you install the update, Adobe will gleefully delete your old version unless you click a tiny box labeled something like “Do Not Nuke My Life.” This box is located five clicks deep in a dark corner of Creative Cloud, protected by riddles and a minotaur.
Always Keep the Old Version (AKA “The One That Actually Works”)
When you update, uncheck the box that says “Remove old versions.” Seriously. You may think you won’t need that old version again. That’s how Adobe gets you. Then, three days later, your favorite plugin stops working, your audio is mysteriously out of sync, and your project opens with the delightful error message: “This project contains unknown errors. Good luck.”
Having the old version is like having a generator during a blackout. Or snacks in your glove compartment. You won’t always need them, but when you do, you really do.
How to Time Travel: Downgrading a Premiere Project
Let’s say you already made the mistake. You opened your project in the new version. Now it’s locked. You want to go back. You’re desperate.
Good news! There’s a totally unofficial and possibly cursed workaround:
- Rename your
.prprojfile to.zip. - Unzip it. You will find something that looks like it was generated by an AI trained exclusively on XML and sadness.
- Open the largest file in a text editor.
- On the fourth line, you’ll see something like
Version="43". Change that toVersion="1". - Zip everything back up. Rename the zip file back to
.prproj. - Cross your fingers. Light a candle. Try opening it in an older version of Premiere.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it explodes. That’s the thrill of post-production.
Other Survival Tips from the Post-Apocalyptic Adobe Future
- Name your files like a paranoid person: Try
ClientVideo_v8_PRE2024_Final_ActuallyFinal_RealFinalForReal.prproj - Export XMLs before updates like it’s 2004 and you're burning DVDs.
- Keep your plugins updated, unless you enjoy watching them vanish like a Snapchat from an ex.
- Always test major version updates on dummy projects, not the one you have due tomorrow.
- Back up your old installer versions (Adobe eventually forgets they ever existed).
If You Work on a Team: Do. Not. Be. That Person.
Don’t be the person who updates Premiere, opens the shared project, saves it, and bricks the timeline for everyone else like some kind of NLE supervillain. Communicate. Coordinate. Maybe even say the words “Let’s hold off on updating until we wrap this project.”
Then everybody nods... and immediately updates anyway.
In Conclusion:
Upgrading Premiere can be great. It can also send you on a spiritual journey through the Adobe forums, where you learn a lot about yourself, your patience, and how many unpaid hours you’re willing to donate to Adobe's QA department.
Stay safe. Stay skeptical. Keep the old version.
And may your render queue never crash.