Symptom
You are experiencing difficulty opening a project (*.ost) file you receive from another On-Screen Takeoff user.
Discussion
Here are some possible reasons:
- The project file you are attempting to open was created using a newer version of On-Screen Takeoff. Please contact the creator of the file to determine what version of the software they are using. You may need to upgrade your On-Screen Takeoff to be compatible.
- The project file you are attempting to open is corrupt or is not a valid On-Screen Takeoff project file. Please contact the creator of the file and ask them to create a new On-Screen Takeoff file.
- The file types have become associated with other programs, see below.
Resolution
Version mis-match
If the file version is incorrect or the file is corrupt, you will need to work with whomever is sharing the file with you to resolve this.
Fixing File associations
Soemtimes, third party installations may re-associate On-Screen Takeoff specific files (*.osx, *.osp, *.ost) to open with other programs. When this happens, you must tell Windows to associate those file extensions back to On-Screen Takeoff.
Review Microsoft's Support article on setting file associations: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/change-the-file-association-for-an-email-attachment-6fa9ac47-4e57-4ab8-9234-2422e3ea507f
Be sure to set OSX, OSP, and OST files to open in On-Screen Takeoff by default.