Revit Failed to open document

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I had a Revit file open on my computer and there was a power outage (I had been saving as I went), however now when I go to reopen Revit and open the file it displays a message 'Revit failed to open document'.

The same goes for all of my back up files back until 5 days before. Does anyone have a solution to this?

Regards,

[ennujozlagam]

@Anonymous  hello, just to check with you, your files stored in your local drive or network server? you can try this before you open your file tick audit and see if this helps. thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi Already tried that without any luck.

Thanks anyway

[ennujozlagam]

@Anonymous hello, The worse scenario you can do is to uninstall and reinstall again and install the latest updates and service packs from Autodesk. It could be the Revit program is corrupted. Thanks

[Jacob.westergaard]

Hi,

Thank you for taking your time to write this in the forum, 

There are various reasons for file corruption, it's a general thing with all kinds of files. However, there are some areas that are more common than others, such as:

• Read/write failure to the storage media.
• Program crashes (especially when writing data to the RVT model).
• An add-in that modifies elements in ways not possible or desired through the normal UI.
• Untested operations or series of operations (e.g. cancelling a synchronize, or using the Undo command after synchronizing). 

As to you specific file, if you want I would be more than happy to go through the file and correct whatever might cause conflict.  

I will just need you to confirm and I'll send you a link to a folder where you can upload your file. 

In any case let me know how you would like to proceed, 

Thanks again, have a great week,

[Anonymous]

Hi Jacob,

I am having a similar issue.  Were you able to resolve and restore the file?

Thanks,

Chris.

[Jacob.westergaard]

Hi Chris,

I am not sure we ever got the file but you are more than welcome to send me a link, either by direct messaging or in the forum thread,

Then I will make sure to have a look at it,

Best Regards,

[zamorama2]

Hi Jacob, I am having the same issue do I upload my file here or do I need a link?? This is a work project and I'm stressing out! also I've made a dumb mistake by deleting backup files. do you know where they go? I could'nt find them in the recycle bin and dont if they just delete out of trace or go somewhere. thank you

-Miguel

[Jacob.westergaard]

Hi,

Let me have a look,

[zamorama2]

ok, Thank you Jacob.

-Miguel

[Jacob.westergaard]

Sorry for the delay Miquel,

As you mentioned you have gotten your backups deleted, I wanted to do what I could to try and get it restored. 

However, it is beyond repair and I suspect it has had a failed write process because I cannot see any file structure in a doc viewer either. 

If you want me to investigate a little further I would be more than happy to have a look at the last journal files you have from when it was working, 

You can find it through this path:

C:\Users\"USER"\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit 

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Hi Jacob,

My file is also saying Failed to open. I have a huge project on my flash drive.

I tried the Audit option, that was not successful. 

What should my next steps be?

[luizavieira]

Hi Jacob,

I had the same problem "Failed to open document", can you please try to save my file??

[Jacob.westergaard · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Thank you both for taking your time to post on the forum,

@Anonymous I would strongly recommend you stop using a flash drive to store you project, as it's very likely the cause for the corruption.

This kind of errors are associated with physical data missing in the file, which means the file hasn't been written properly.

Everyone receiving this error should make themselves familiar to this article:

• Revit - Failed to open document error

It also has a pretty good list of things to try and avoid, USB flash drives among others.

You will both need to restore from one of you backup copies, but do let me know if you need me to clarify any of the above,

Thanks again,

[lisaGPEJW]

Hi Jacob,

I'm having the same issue, could you please help. Saved the file from my desktop to google drive, opened it and worked in it December 2024, when I wanted to open it today it just says failed to open. 

[romano_rereem]

Hi, Jacob,

I am experiencing the same issue. I transferred both the original and backup files to my flash drive on 07/12/25, which emptied the folder on my laptop. A few minutes later, when I attempted to continue working on the project by opening the file from the flash drive, I received an error message stating “Failed to open the document.”

I then transferred the files back from the flash drive to my laptop; however, I’m still unable to open both the original and the backup files. I’ve tried using the “Audit” as well as the “Detach file” option (as said in other forums), but unfortunately, neither approach resolved the issue.

Were you able to resolve the corrupted file? Please let me know if there are any other steps I can take. I appreciate any insights you might have.

Best regards,

Reem