GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Windows
OS Version: win10
GIMP Experience: New User

List any ERROR messages you received:
Opening 'C:\Users\james\Desktop\paint.xcf' failed: GIMP XCF image plug-In could not open image

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HI,

I was working on a drawing for a while, and all of a sudden I received this message when trying to open it. I'm pretty frustrated. It's strange because when I go to open recent, it shows a picture of the file. The file is in the same location it always was, nothing has changed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I deleted the program and re-installed it, that didn't work.
Thank You

Are you able to drag and drop the xcf work space file onto the canvas and open it that way?

Is it just this one xcf file that won't open? Or is the problem with all xcf files?

Hi, thanks for the responses. I tried dragging into the workspace and that didn't work. And the problem is only for this xcf file

Are you sure that your version of GIMP is compatible with that xcf file? Sometimes updating GIMP will not allow you to open earlier versions of xcf's. Have you installed a newer version of GIMP lately?

I downloaded gimp and only saved two files. One will open and one will not (all of a sudden). Only afterwards did I delete and re-install gimp. Maybe a different version will open the file for me?

What version of Gimp do have now? (Help > About)

Where did you download it from?

My gut feel is that you have a corrupt xcf file (I have never had a corrupt xcf file). Time to restore a backup file. A good way to work: Save as MyProject01.xcf, MyProject02.xcf, etc. Then you have something to fall back to.

If you created this XCF file with your current GIMP it should open it. Is the file extension named correctly?
Example myfile.xcf and not something strange like myfile.zcf or myfile..xcf?
I've done this before and accidentally hit a key i shouldn't have.

OFF SUBJECT
By the way anytime you have a problem starting or opening GIMP try INSTEAD of un installing remove the rc files in the .gimp-2.8 folder and restart GIMP. This should bring GIMP back to its default state and should start correctly.
Un installing is never usually the answer unless you have a corrupted or interrupted install.

Depending on what your file is, you could try and share it and see if anyone else can open it. I suspect the file saved incompletely. The image shows in Gimp's recent list, because image thumbnails are cached and saved for quick access. If you go into document history and select the refresh button, it rebuilds the previews. Holding shift while selecting the refresh button rebuilds all the previews and holding Control while selecting refresh eliminates orphaned files.

Thank you for the help everybody. It looks like I am running version 2.8. The file extensions is correct. Not sure how to locate the RC files that someone suggested I erase. I tried to upload the file and share it, but the forum uploader says the uploaded file is empty. This might be a clue.

Your gimprc file is located in the /USERNAME/.gimp-2.8 directory.
If the XCF workspace file is corrupt, and it sounds like it may be, removing the gimprc file will not help.

What is its size (in bytes). And what would be its expected size in pixels?

zero byte image= not working
good call that has to be the reason right? But what happend?

I have no explanation. If your disk is healthy (see SMART data) and the file system is clean, you could report a bug. I wonder if this could be due to two concurrent file save if you hit Ctrl-S twice, the scoend tile while the file is till being saved. Personally I have never experienced this and it seems to happen only to Windows users (but then there could be a bias since they are the vast majority of Gimp users).