cannot open previous version visio file in visio 2019

I just chatted with John about this question and need to correct his suggestion that perhaps support for older files has been dropped -- it has NOT!

I just opened a couple of vsd files using Visio Plan 2, which is a superset of Visio 2019, and it worked fine. Here's my version info:

Just after I typed the sentences above, it occurred to me that perhaps there is a difference between Visio 2019 and Visio Plan 2 for older files. I doubted that was the case but to prove the point, I fired up a VM with Visio 2019 and opened several vsd files without any problem. This is my version info:

It does look like my version of 2019 is newer than yours, so it would make sense to update your copy of Visio just to be sure.

Beyond that, try opening this file -- it's a dead simple flowchart -- to see what happens. If that opens and your files don't perhaps there's an issue with the files.

Thanks Scott. Some of our mutual friends pointed out that it could be a trust issue. So, certain File types can be blocked. Using Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings....

You can control how the various File Types are handled. So, anyone with older files still have a chance to open them.

The problem is that Visio changed from a proprietary file format, VSD, to a new file format VSDX (actually a new family of file formats) a few versions back. To be able to open the old files, you will need one of the earlier versions that could open VSD and VSDX files and convert. I will check to see if I can get more details on which version you will need.
It seems the ability to open VSD/VSS/VST files has been dropped.

Waqas,

Thank you for the below reply with suggestions

so far i have re-installed the visio 2019, also tried the repair option too, below are some screenshots of the version info

I am unable to open any 2003-2010 visio file, it tries to open and crashes it does not show any error code

This was working fine before sometime in Feb 2022, i was able to open older files etc,

I have tried changing the file to *.vsdx format too, no luck

Hi Shashi D Char,

First, my pleasure to assist you.

As per your description, please don’t worry, we can work together to narrow down and resolve the situation.

I understand, when we open a Visio file that was created in an older version of Visio, you might see some problems, as you mentioned, “unable to open the previous version file” may I know did you get any error message? If so, could you please upload a screenshot of error message here for our reference so we can understand your exact scenario and provide our suggestion in a productive manner, perhaps some related screenshots will be helpful.

Also, may I know have you tried to go to Visio > Open > select the old file to open the file to check if the same problem will occur. And if the suggestions above don’t work, we’d suggest you go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > select Visio > right-click and select Change > Online repair.

I suggest you open the files in old version of Visio client to check if the same problem will occur, if it works fine in old version of Visio, you can try to save it as a .vsdx format to check if the same problem will occur.

If the problem still persists after trying the suggestions above, to better understand your situation, could you provide the information below?

1.Could you provide the Product Information and version of your Visio? You can go to Visio > File > Account and provide the screenshot of Account page contains Product Information panel.

2.Do all old files have the same problem?

I appreciate your understanding and stay safe!!

Best regards

Waqas Muhammad