"Your local file is not compatible with the central model" appears in Revit

Autodesk Support

Sep 11, 2024

Products and versions covered

When trying to synchronize or reload a link in a Revit, the following message appears:

Your local file is not compatible with the central model.
Error message. Your local file is not compatible with the central model.

Note: The file could be worked on without issue before synchronizing.

Potential causes for this issue:

An upgrade to a newer version of Revit.
The central was substituted with an unrelated model using the same name.
The central model was restored from a previous version.
Two project members with the same username.
Someone is working directly in the central model.
File-based worksharing over a wide area network (WAN) / Internet / VPN connection, with a greater latency than would normally be seen on a LAN (0-2ms).
Not sufficient proxy and antivirus settings.
Some project members are pathed to the central model using a mapped letter drive, while others are mapped through the network path.
The local version of the central model is corrupted and was not synced for loner time.

If encountering this error with a cloud based model (BIM 360 Document Management / Autodesk Docs) see the following article for troubleshooting: "Your local file is not compatible with the central model..." when opening a cloud workshared model in Revit

Create a new local model.
Ensure that all project members are using the same Revit version with updates installed.
Check if the Central file was substituted with an unrelated project using the same username.
In Revit Options in the application Menu, make sure that each member has a unique username.
Note: The contract manager or software coordinator must assign products and services to individual members by their unique Autodesk accounts when using a Single-User license.
Make sure that nobody is working in the central file directly.
Set up / use Revit Cloud Worksharing rather than file-based worksharing over an Internet / VPN connection.
Verify that all project members are pathed to the central file in the same manner, for details check "The central model has been copied or moved" when creating a local model in Revit.
Make sure that the model is healthy, check the number of unused elements, and purge them. While noticing a high number of duplicated materials/assets, use the macro from the article to clean the model.

Revit;

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