Are Sketch version 71 documents backwards-compatible with Sketch version 70?

No, Sketch version 71 or later Cloud documents are not backwards-compatible with Sketch version 70 and earlier.

When you first open an existing Cloud document in Sketch version 71 or later, you’ll get a notification to update that document so it’s compatible. This allows you to use real-time collaboration within the Mac app and push incremental uploads to Cloud. You can choose to either update and open your document or cancel.

We highly recommend that all Contributors who need to access this Cloud document update to the same version of the Mac app at the same time. Once you’ve opened a Cloud document in version 71 or later, if you then go back and try to open that document in an earlier version of Sketch it might result in some data being lost. Don’t worry — we’ll show you a warning window to let you know first.

At this point, you can still open the file if you want, but we recommend cancelling and opening the file in version 71 instead. However, please note that if you do open the document in an earlier version, you won’t be able to save it to Sketch Cloud as you normally do. Instead, we’ll show you a message asking you to update the Mac app.

Alternatively, you can make a copy of the document by selecting File > Duplicate from the menu. Then, save that document to a new location in Sketch Cloud or locally on your Mac.

Please keep in mind that duplicating and uploading the document to Cloud, will create a new URL. Remember to share the new URL with anyone that was using the previous link. This is particularly relevant if the document is a shared Library or if there were any comments in Cloud.