# Project will not open **URL:** \ **Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\ **Created:** [January 29, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306 "2018-01-29T13:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gordon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gordon/32/2641_2.png) [@Gordon](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gordon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/1 "2018-01-29T13:16:57Z")
I have one project that will not open. Says the theme (null) is missing. When I try to apply the default Offroad theme, nothing happens, no error message no project displayed. All other projects seem to open fine. Even projects that use the same theme! Any suggestions? ![RapidWeaver](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/2X/a/a4b0c9f9b1c23c6443e2cd0ae16fa69275be9e18.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![apfelpuree](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/apfelpuree/32/21925_2.png) [@apfelpuree](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/apfelpuree)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/2 "2018-01-29T17:01:32Z")
Can you open the package of the project file (context menü)? Do you find a document called content.plist? ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dan/32/28516_2.png) [@dan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/3 "2018-01-29T18:52:22Z")
It might be that your project has become corrupt, this can happen if you store your projects on cloud drives, such as Dropbox, or iCloud… ---
**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/4 "2018-01-29T19:42:22Z")
You might be able to fix that with right click on the file -\> Show Package Content. Inside that file, there might be an additional RW project file, which is the real one. Copy that to the Desktop and see if it is able to be opened. Happens most of the time for me with RW projects, zipped as archived, stored in iCloud documents. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gordon/32/2641_2.png) [@Gordon](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gordon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:07am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/5 "2018-01-31T04:07:49Z")
Yes, I looked at that to confirm what the theme was and that it was installed. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gordon/32/2641_2.png) [@Gordon](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gordon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/6 "2018-01-31T04:08:30Z")
I looked but didn’t find the additional project file. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gordon/32/2641_2.png) [@Gordon](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gordon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:11am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/7 "2018-01-31T04:11:08Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions… I was able to recover a good version of the file from my Time Machine backup, but I would like to know what was corrupted, and how it happened. @dan was correct, I am relying on Dropbox for working on my files in three different locations. ---
**Author:** ![zeebe](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/zeebe/32/22007_2.png) [@zeebe](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/zeebe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/8 "2018-01-31T05:50:32Z")
A file can easily be corrupted if it is kept on Dropbox and you open it on a computer before the file is synced with all of the computers you use it on. Realmac will tell you not to keep project files on Dropbox without first compressing it, but if you follow these rules EXACTLY you should not have any issue: > [@Storing Rapidweaver sites on Dropbox](http://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/storing-rapidweaver-sites-on-dropbox/1106/2): > > Realmac says you should not. They say it could corrupt your file. I have been doing this for over 4 years now, and have only had one corruption, and it was my fault, not dropbox’s. If you are going to do this, you have to be sure you follow these rules: NEVER have the file open on more than one machine at a time. NEVER allow two people to work on the same file at the same time. ALWAYS be sure your computer has synced completely with Dropbox before opening your file, EVEN if what is syncing… The big thing to remember is when working on a laptop computer, that you be sure Dropobx has synced completely, I have actually had another corruption since I made that post and that was because I opened my laptop and just assumed it was synced, and it was not, killing the project file when I opened it. ---
**Author:** ![TechBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@TechBill](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/TechBill)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/9 "2018-01-31T14:13:47Z")
Couldn’t Realmac add a preventive measure code or a file lock in RW to protect the project files in cloud to keep it from opening or saving to a file that is not completely sync’ed or locked by another RW. ---
**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/10 "2018-01-31T14:24:24Z")
It is not one file. A RW project is a folder (aka package) with a bunch of files, which just looks like one file. They would have to change the file format in a way that the project is an zipped archive to prevent that. ---
**Author:** ![apfelpuree](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/apfelpuree/32/21925_2.png) [@apfelpuree](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/apfelpuree)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/11 "2018-01-31T18:10:20Z")
> [@instacks](#): > > They would have to change the file format in a way that the project is an zipped archive to prevent that. They could use the backup feature for storing the project file into the cloud. It generates a zip-file ---
**Author:** ![Gordon](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/gordon/32/2641_2.png) [@Gordon](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Gordon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/12 "2018-02-01T04:10:44Z")
Gosh there are some smart people here… I am humbled by all the comments! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/system/32/25301_2.png) [@system](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/project-will-not-open/18306/13 "2018-02-07T04:10:46Z")
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