This project is invalid or corrupt and cannot be opened. It may have been created in an earlier version of Storyline problem

Nov 26, 2016

Why articulate can not solve the "This project is invalid or corrupt and cannot be opened. It may have been created in an earlier version of Storyline" problem! What am i suppose to do? Restart the project?  The methods writing in the discussions is not working. I save the project in C :/.. After publishing  my file LMS it was corrupted.. i connoisseur to articulate

13 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Abdullah,

I'm really sorry to hear that you've run into a problem with the project files. The error message is indicating an element of corruption or latency associated with the file, and it's typically tied back to not adhering to the behaviors documented here. 

If the file has become corrupt, there may still be a working version of your project in your temp files. Here's how to check: 

1) Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline 

2) Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop. 

3) Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story. 

4) Double-click the file to open it in Storyline. 

File corruption is unpredictable, and there's no straightforward way to determine what causes it. Common causes are environmental (disk errors, power outages, improper shutdowns), viruses, failed Windows updates, and even file size (i.e., very large files have a higher risk of corrupting). 

Dan Shannon

Blaming the user who's doing everything correctly is not an adequate response.

If your program is prone to these errors, you should either fix them or post prominent warnings as to the fragility of the project files created in Articulate Storyline and the necessity to take extra steps to preserve one's work -- in this case, saving religiously to Team Slides appears to help. 

I am suspecting that the cause in my case has to do with not updating the program as frequently as I might (I work on a network at work and I would have to write a ticket every time I get a notice that updates to Articulate are available and they would get back to me, maybe, within a few days).

Blaming the user doesn't get to the real problem.  I may have just lost another three days' work.

Lauren Connelly

Hello Pradhyumna!

We can help with that error message you're seeing! Can you share your .story file with our Support Engineers to determine what is getting in the way? You can upload it to them in a support case. We'll let you know as soon as we receive the file and begin testing!