Final Cut Pro library not opening or displaying correctly after 12.3 upgrade

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Level 2

472 points

Final Cut Pro library not opening or displaying correctly after 12.3 upgrade

After upgrade to FCP 12.3, opening preexisting Library does not work. Opening a library from the Finder after 12.3 upgrade has two problems.

Problem #1:

After conversion of the library to 12.3 format, no FCP windows are opened. Selecting WINDOW->WORKSPACE->myedit gets around this problem.

Problem #2:

After resolving problem #1, the contents of the library are covered by the dark blue Create a Library button. The first item in the converted library peaks through at the top and can be selected but the button covers the rest. To resolve this, FCP must be quit and reopened.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.7

Posted on Sep 17, 2026 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

77,288 points

Sep 17, 2026 6:18 AM in response to Ernest House

I have now had a chance to test this with 12.3 on macOS 27.

I was able to reproduce the problem - only when updating an older library. Double-clicking on a library that is already compatible with 12.3 starts FCP and opens the library correctly. Doing it with an older library presents the usual "this library needs to be updated" dialog and then results in the situation that you described.

Deleting preferences does NOT help in this case.

Quitting and then starting FCP works.

Also, the problem does not occur if FCP is already open, or if one opens the old library from within FCP.

I also tested FCP 12.2, and it ALSO has the same problem.

All we can do is report this using the "Provide Final Cut Pro Feedback..." command in the application itself, so the developers are made aware.

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Answer 2

Sep 17, 2026 4:14 AM in response to Ernest House

Try deleting preferences.

Hold down command and option while starting the application and click Delete Custom Settings. The application will start with default settings and open an “Untitled” library. Adjust the settings, reopen the library you were working, and see how it works now.

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Answer 3

Ernest House Author

Level 2

472 points

Sep 17, 2026 4:31 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Yeah, I could do that but this is just another sloppy Apple coding bug in FCP they decided to ship so I wanted to share it with the community. I'd rather do the one-time quit of FCP for each library than setup preferences again. I already had to do that for a couple months ago to fix other Apple bugs. What's the point in having preferences if you have to reset them every time there's an update? I did submit a bug report to Apple Feedback. Thanks.

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Answer 4

Ernest House Author

Level 2

472 points

Sep 17, 2026 9:27 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I have the same results. It's a one time penalty when opening an older library from the finder. Once converted, it behaves correctly. I didn't know about the in-app reporting. Hopefully its the same as the website for fCP feedback. thx

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