Migrating an Archicad Project

What is Migration?

Migrating a project is the process of converting a Project File to work in a newer version of Archicad. Archicad projects are fixed to the version of Archicad that they were last saved in, and cannot be opened by a version of Archicad older than that, however all but the oldest projects can be opened in newer versions of Archicad through Migration.

What projects can I Migrate?

Current versions of Archicad are able to open any project from Archicad 8.1 or newer. Where opening even older projects is required, Graphisoft have made available file converters which can be used to migrate files as old as Archicad 4.1 into a format that can be opened by current versions of Archicad. Due to backwards compatibility issues in newer versions of macOS, these converters can only run on Mac OS X 10.10 and earlier, as such, a Windows machine is recommended for the conversions. Due to significant changes in Project File structure and computer architecture, it is no longer possible to open projects from versions older than Archicad 4.1.

When should I migrate (or not)?

Migration can be an ongoing process that is integrated into a company workflow as a project develops. For the least risk however, migrating an active project to the next version of Archicad is best done as early as possible in the design process. More complicated or developed project files, while not necessarily being more likely to experience issues from Migration, will likely be more difficult and time-consuming to fix if issues do arise. There is no definite stage past which Migration should be avoided though, and the decision is ultimately up to the user. It may be worth the risk of Migrating to be able to use a new feature that will benefit the project.

Migrating older projects may be necessary if a design has been put on hold for an extended period and the original version of Archicad is no longer available or usable, or if an old project is being revisited for renovation or alteration. This works best if the project was Archived.

What else does Migrating do?

When you migrate a project, Archicad will look through all of the Library Elements currently placed in your project, and replace them with the equivalent version of that element from the new Default Library, if one is available. This process will also preserve any settings that have been applied to the placed element. If a Library Element from a previous Archicad Default Library cannot be migrated because is no longer included in the newer one, or has been significantly changed between versions, Archicad uses the Migration Libraries to prevent any lost data.

Migration Libraries are an archive of old Archicad Library Elements that have been removed from the Archicad Default Library over time, or which have been significantly updated to where it is not possible to migrate to the new version of that Element. Migration Libraries are automatically added to the project's Linked Libraries list during the migration process, and include un-migratable objects from Archicad 13 onward.

How do I Migrate a project?

When opening a PLN project in a newer version of Archicad for the first time, the Migration Assistant window should appear. It is important to select the 'Migrate Archicad Libraries' option at this stage to avoid any errors. You can also tick the 'Don't show this warning anymore' box to automate this process in the future.

Migrating without the Migration Assistant

In the event that the migration has been skipped and the project saved in the new version, the Migration Assistant will not appear again. It is still possible to migrate the project libraries through the Library Manager, which is found under the File menu.

Near the bottom of the Library Manager window, click the 'Migrate Libraries' button.

Select 'Migrate' on the message that appears, Archicad will then detect the loaded libraries and replace them with the new ones.

Then click 'OK' to close the Library Manager. Archicad may pause for a short time while the libraries are reloaded, this is normal.

What are the risks with Migrating?

Migrating an Archicad project from one version to the next is typically a painless process when done correctly. Significant changes between Archicad versions may mean extra work is needed to bring a project up-to date, particularly where existing features have been overhauled, but native elements and settings should all convert normally. Issues may still arise though, if the project uses add-ons that don't support migration, or that are unavailable in the new version. Migrating the same project multiple times over its development has a cumulative effect with regard to issues occurring, becoming more likely with repeated migrations. As such, it is important to make sure that migrating to the new version is what's best for your project and your workflow.

Migrating from older versions

Migrating a project becomes increasingly risky the more versions are skipped. Migrating from versions more than two or three generations back is not advised for active projects, but it is still possible. You may experience issues with element parameters becoming corrupted or migrated incorrectly, in which case that element may have to be replaced, and add-ons may not behave correctly if they have changed a lot across multiple versions.

Migrating from deprecated versions

Migrating from a deprecated version (e.g. Archicad 18 or older) must be done with some level of caution, and the awareness that some things may not be as they should. Since it is no longer possible to download these versions of Archicad through official channels, migration is likely to be the only option to recover project data. In many cases, some work may be required if you want the project to be serviceable again. In some cases, particularly with very old versions, a better option would be copying any essential elements into a new project file and continuing from there.

Non-archived projects (PLN Solo Project) from Archicad 12 and earlier will likely have missing objects, as current Archicad versions only include Migration Libraries for Archicad 13 and newer. In these cases, the missing objects will have to be manually replaced with newer ones, and the objects parameters will be lost.

Please see our Article on Migrating from legacy versions of Archicad for more information about migrating from Archicad 8.1 or earlier.

For more information about what data may be affected by migrating from these versions, please read the article linked below:

• AC User Guide: Migrating from Older Versions (Archicad 8.1 through 17)

Backwards migration

Backwards migration, i.e. saving an Archicad project to be compatible with the previous version of Archicad, is possible but discouraged in most cases. Backwards migration can cause information loss, where elements or properties that were not present in the earlier version of Archicad will be discarded.

Migrating CI Tools Add-ons

The CI Tools add-ons often change significantly between major versions of Archicad, because of this, the tools are designed to be able to migrate their settings between versions. It is important to migrate your libraries when using CI Tools add-ons to ensure that the correct libraries are loaded for the version of Archicad you are using. Since the CI Tools Libraries are installed inside the Archicad Library by default, loading the Archicad Library for that version of Archicad will load the right libraries automatically.

Issues may arise however, when skipping versions in the migration, increasing in likelihood and severity the larger the skip. In elements belonging to these add-ons, some parameters may not be converted properly, this can result in them appearing or behaving incorrectly. In these cases, some elements can be manually migrated, though in some cases it may be necessary to reset the affected elements to their default settings or replace them entirely.

You should never have multiple versions of the CI Tools Libraries loaded in your project, as this will inevitably cause errors and other unintended behaviour. This may happen if you have more than one Archicad Library loaded where the libraries are from different versions of Archicad. This will also cause performance issues in your file due to the number of duplicate elements, as such it is important to only load one Archicad Library in your project.