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Show won’t open after updating software

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MikeG 2026-03-21 18:46:00
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  • MikeG
    Joined: Jul 2024
    Posts: 7
    Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States
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    2026-03-21 18:46:00
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    Updated software today.  After restarting, went to work on my 4th of July show and it says, “Unable to Open file.”  It says this for all of my previously saved shows.  What to do??

    DrewFinale
    Joined: Dec 2019
    Posts: 735
    Location: United States
    Charcoal
    2026-03-21 20:22:39
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    Hi MikeG, it seems like your show file has somehow become corrupted. It shouldn’t be possible for an update to have caused this, let alone for an update to corrupt your previous show files. Installing a new version of Finale 3D only modifies files in the Finale 3D installation directory; it doesn’t touch show files in any way or files stored in other folders on your computer.

     

    When a single show file is corrupted, the problem is typically that something interfered with the saving process the last time you saved the show. I’ve never encountered a situation where all show files saved on a computer are corrupted. As a theory, I wonder if this could be caused by an antivirus or antimalware application mistakenly seeing your show files as malicious.

     

    As a first step, try recovering your show(s) from the backup copy that Finale 3D keeps, which you can access from within Finale 3D by going to File > Admin > Open backup files directory.

    MikeG
    Joined: Jul 2024
    Posts: 7
    Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States
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    2026-03-24 01:55:49
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    Drew, what you described, going to “Open Backup Files Directory” worked immediately.  I never knew this was an option.  Thank you for the very quick and effective solution!

    DrewFinale
    Joined: Dec 2019
    Posts: 735
    Location: United States
    Charcoal
    2026-03-24 21:09:17
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    Hi MikeG, I’m very happy to hear you were able to recover your show from the backup. For your reference, or for anyone else who comes across this discussion in the future: When you save a show, Finale 3D saves the show file to the location you choose on your computer and simultaneously saves a copy to the backups folder in the Finale 3D installation directory.

     

    It’s very rare, but not unprecedented for a single show file to become corrupted if something interferes with the Finale 3D saving process. However, for multiple show files to become corrupted would be completely unprecedented. This would be a code red, highest priority, stop-everything-and-investigate kind of situation.

     

    Mike, you said you are seeing “Unable to open file” for all your previous shows. Can you confirm? How many of your previous show files are corrupted?

    MikeG
    Joined: Jul 2024
    Posts: 7
    Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States
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    2026-03-26 22:10:51
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    Drew, all the other files are opening now.  Could’ve been my error thinking the other ones also were not opening.  But the original (main) show file has been successfully recovered…. Thanks!

    DrewFinale
    Joined: Dec 2019
    Posts: 735
    Location: United States
    Charcoal
    2026-03-27 09:44:07
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    MikeG wrote:

    Drew, all the other files are opening now. Could’ve been my error thinking the other ones also were not opening. But the original (main) show file has been successfully recovered…. Thanks!

    That’s great to hear. Thanks for letting me know.

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