Backward compatibility issue for ArcGIS Pro style file （*.stylx）

Question

Hi everyone,

I have created a style file (*.stylx) in ArcGIS Pro 3.0 and would like to distribute it to users who are using lower version of ArcGIS Pro(like 2.8, 2.9). An error occured("The version of the selected style is not supported or is otherwise invalid. Please select a valid .stylx file.") when they trying to add the style file into their ArcGIS Pro project , was wondering if there is any solution that can share the stylx file from higher version of ArcGIS Pro to lower version of ArcGIS Pro?

Thanks！

Updated info

Here is what I found so far:

This issue only exists for 3.x style file loaded into 2.x Pro.

Style file created in 2.x seems to be fine（i.e. style file created in ArcGIS Pro 2.8 will have no issue loading into ArcGIS Pro 2.5）.

Robert LeClair · Answer

Hi @xingchenc - I'll keep you posted on anything I learn!

xingchenc · Answer

Hi Robert,

@Robert_LeClair Thanks for the suggustion, unfortunately, I have already tried packing the whole project as a PPKX file and opened it in ArcGIS Pro 2.8. still no luck(same error message).

While reading your reply on another post(link here: Re: Add Stylx error: The version of the selected s... - Esri Community), I found this trick actually works. The only drawback is you can only upload selected few style types like point/line/polygon/text style, other style type like Maplex placement style will not be uploaded to portal.

Please let me know if there is any better solutions, thanks!

Robert LeClair · Answer

So ArcGIS Pro 3.x is a breaking release meaning that 3.x files cannot be opened in ArcGIS Pro 2.x.  You can read more about it here.  One workflow to attempt is to create a project package and open it using ArcGIS Pro 2.x.  Does the *.stylx open in ArcGIS Pro 2.x?