Opening Xcode 13.0 project in Xcode 12.5

Question

When I try to open a Xcode project I'm getting an error message saying :

The project at '/Users/.../[].xcodeproj' cannot be opened because it is in a future Xcode project file format. Adjust the project format using a compatible version of Xcode to allow it to be opened by this version of Xcode.

Im currently on Xcode 12.5.1 and I don't have Xcode 13 installed. There's a similar question(Xcode 13 - The project at '/Users/test.xcodeproj' cannot be opened because it is in a future Xcode project file format) which suggests changing the project format to make it Xcode 12 compatible, but I can't do that since I can't open the project file in Xcode 12.

Try just manually copy and pasting the code (access it in Finder) into a blank new Xcode project. — aheze, Oct 23 '21 at 05:36

score 28 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 23 '22 at 14:53

28

Make the following (tested with Xcode 13 and Xcode 12.5):

Locate .xcodeproj in Finder and drop inside bundle using Open Package Contents

Open project.pbxproj in any text editor (eg. TextEdit)

Find, change objectVersion = 55 to objectVersion = 46 (!!), then save and quit

Open your xcodeproj in Xcode 12.5 - Done

Note: I did not check how far it will be operable - probably depends on project complexity, but that can be fixed step by step I assume.

edited Aug 23 '22 at 14:53

Martijn Pieters

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answered Oct 23 '21 at 13:13

Asperi

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Note that, if you have submodules within your project, you must do this on all .xcodeproj on your workspace. Thanks @Asperi! – Bionicle Mar 11 '22 at 02:46
after that i am able to run the project but the screen is cutting – keshav Mar 16 '22 at 08:53
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For opening Xcode 14 beta projects in Xcode 13 change 56 to 55 – BUDDAx2 Aug 07 '22 at 11:37

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 23 '21 at 14:07

What you're seeing is correct behavior. By default, a new project created with Xcode 13 is in a format that is not backwards compatible with Xcode 12 or before. Xcode 12 rightly stops you from trying to open it. Xcode 13 can be used to change the project format so that it is backward compatible, but Xcode 12 cannot because it can't open the project to begin with.

However, in many cases this won't be a problem. You can still see the code files and open them in Xcode 12. You can even make a new Xcode 12 project out of them.

Opening Xcode 13.0 project in Xcode 12.5

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