What is the PRO6 file format?
A .pro6 file is a presentation document created by ProPresenter 6, the live-production software from Renewed Vision used in churches, conferences and sporting events. The file is written as human-readable XML built around an <RVPresentationDocument> root. Inside it you will find slide groups, per-slide layout, backgrounds, transitions and timing, plus cues that point to audio and video.
The visible slide text is not stored as plain words. Each text element holds a base64-encoded .rtf string, so fonts, sizes and colors are preserved along with the wording. Media is only referenced, never embedded: the document keeps file paths to images, video and audio that live elsewhere on disk. That keeps .pro6 files small, but it also means a document loses its media when copied on its own.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA .pro6 file is a plain XML text document and is not executable, so it cannot run code on its own. The main practical risk is broken media links when the file is separated from the external images, audio and video it references. Only open .pro6 files from sources you trust, but the format itself carries no known malware vector.
Format details
in a nutshellFULL NAMEProPresenter 6 Documentaka PRO6 Document, ProPresenter 6 Presentation
DEVELOPERRenewed Visionsince 2015
CATEGORYPage Layout Files
MIME TYPEapplication/xml
TYPEText (XML with base64-encoded RTF blobs)
Programs that open PRO6 files
Windows4 apps
ProPresenter 6
Paid Install ProPresenter 6 and open the .pro6 file from its library or via File then Open to edit and present it with full media playback.
ProPresenter 7
Freemium Open ProPresenter 7 and import the .pro6 file; it will convert the older document into the current format, though some styling may need review.
Notepad / any text editor
Open-source Open the .pro6 file as XML to read slide structure and metadata; the visible lyric text is base64-encoded RTF and needs decoding to be legible.
ProPresenter-Parser (ChrisMBarr)
Open-source Use this JavaScript/TypeScript library to programmatically parse a .pro6 file and extract slide lyrics and metadata into plain data. 
macOS3 apps
ProPresenter 6
Paid Open the .pro6 document in ProPresenter 6 on macOS to edit slides, relink media and run the presentation.
ProPresenter 7
Freemium Import the legacy .pro6 file into ProPresenter 7 on macOS to migrate it to the current version.
BBEdit / any text editor
Freemium Open the .pro6 XML to inspect the document tree; decode the base64 RTF fields separately to read the actual slide text. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | UTF-8 XML text; per-slide text stored as base64-encoded RTF inside <NSString> / RTFData fields |
| Byte order | N/A (text format) |
| Container | Plain XML document (single file). The bundled equivalent .pro6x is a ZIP archive containing one or more .pro6 files plus media |
| Compression | None for the .pro6 file itself; the companion .pro6x bundle is ZIP-compressed |
| Typical size | A few KB to a few hundred KB, since media is referenced rather than embedded |
| Structure | Root <RVPresentationDocument> element carries document attributes (version, CCLI metadata, background color, dimensions). It contains an array of <RVSlideGrouping> groups, each holding <RVDisplaySlide> elements. Each slide holds <RVTextElement> objects whose visible text is a base64-encoded RTF string, plus optional cues, media cues and shape/foreground elements. Colors are stored as component strings and some values are base64-encoded. |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS |
| Notes | Media (images, video, audio) is not embedded; the XML stores absolute or relative path references to external files. Moving a .pro6 without its media breaks those links, which is why Renewed Vision added the self-contained .pro6x bundle export. The format is fully human-readable, which spawned several community parsers. ProPresenter 7 abandoned this XML design in favour of Google Protocol Buffers, so its .pro documents are not compatible with .pro6 tooling. |
| Released | 2015 |
| Latest version | ProPresenter 6 |
| Specification | gist.github.com |
PRO6 conversions
Community Q&A
asked by usersNo questions yet - be the first to ask about PRO6 files.
Frequently asked questions
How do I open a .pro6 file?
Open it with ProPresenter 6, the program that created it. ProPresenter 7 can also import and convert
.pro6 files. If you only want to read the structure, any text or XML editor will display it, though the slide text is base64-encoded RTF and needs decoding.Why is my .pro6 file missing images and videos?
A
.pro6 document stores only path references to media, not the media itself. If you copied the file without its media folder, the links break. Re-link the media in ProPresenter, or export the presentation as a .pro6x bundle so media travels with the document.What is the difference between .pro6 and .pro6x?
A
.pro6 is a single XML presentation document that references external media. A .pro6x is a ZIP bundle that packages one or more .pro6 documents together with the actual media files, making it portable between computers.Can I open a .pro6 file in ProPresenter 7?
Yes. ProPresenter 7 imports
.pro6 files and converts them to its newer .pro format. There is no way to save back to .pro6 from version 7, so keep a copy of the original if you still run ProPresenter 6.How do I extract lyrics or text from a .pro6 file?
The visible text is stored as base64-encoded RTF inside the XML. Open-source parsers such as ProPresenter-Parser decode it and output plain lyrics. Manually you would base64-decode each text field and then strip the RTF markup.
Is a .pro6 file safe to open?
Yes. It is a non-executable XML text file with no scripting capability. As with any downloaded file, only open documents from sources you trust, but the format poses no inherent security risk.
References
1Renewed Vision ProPresenter 6 documentation - Document File Formatslearn.renewedvision.com
2FileInfo - PRO6 Filefileinfo.com
