S7-1200 .zap13 Files in TIA Portal: Open, Retrieve, and Upgrade

Overview

The SIMATIC S7-1200 PLC is programmed inside the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal framework. Siemens ships several major versions of STEP 7 in TIA Portal, and each version saves and archives the offline project in a version-specific file extension. A project archived from STEP 7 V13 is saved as .zap13, while archives written by V13 SP1, V13 SP1 Update, V13 SP2, or any subsequent update exhibit suffixes such as .zap13_1 or .zap13_2. The same convention continues through V14 (.zap14), V15 (.zap15), V16 (.zap16), and the current V20 generation (.zap20).

If the engineering workstation only has TIA Portal V15 installed and the archived project on hand is a .zap13 file, the engineer cannot simply double-click the archive. TIA Portal will reject the archive or refuse to migrate it because the version delta exceeds the supported upgrade window. This article documents the exact compatibility rules, the retrieve (not open) workflow, the available upgrade paths, the OS constraints that force the use of a Windows 7 64-bit host or VM, and the order numbers for the current STEP 7 programming packages.

The official product page for STEP 7 in TIA Portal lives at https://www.siemens.com/en-us/products/tia-portal/step7/ and is the canonical entry point for current version availability. The S7-1200 program controller manual collection (V20 generation) carries full ordering information including the V20 STEP 7 article numbers at https://docs.tia.siemens.cloud/r/simatic_s7_1200_g2_manual_collection_enus_20/ordering-information/programming-software.

Prerequisites

Before attempting to recover or upgrade the offline archive, confirm the following prerequisites. Skipping any of these typically manifests as a generic "project cannot be opened" dialog with no further explanation.

1. Identify the exact archive suffix. Examine the file in Windows Explorer and confirm whether the extension is .zap13, .zap13_1, or .zap13_2. The trailing underscore-suffix identifies the service pack level (see the version table below).
2. Identify the target CPU firmware and hardware catalog version. If the embedded device description (HSP - hardware support package) used by the original project is newer than what is installed locally, retrieval will warn about missing hardware. Resolve this before continuing.
3. Confirm the local TIA Portal install is at the latest update of the highest installed major version. V15.1 plus Update 9 is the practical minimum; V15 (without the ".1") lacks the SP1 migration glue required by some .zap14 projects.
4. Administrative rights on the engineering workstation. TIA Portal installs, HSP updates, GSD/GSDML installs, and project upgrades all require local administrator rights.
5. Sufficient free disk space. TIA Portal V13 plus updates can exceed 8 GB; V15 plus updates can exceed 20 GB.

Understanding .zap File Extensions

The .zap extension is a Siemens-specific compressed archive (similar in purpose to a .zip) that bundles the offline project, the device configuration, the HMI tags, and any referenced optional packages. The trailing characters encode the originating major version and service pack. The mapping that matters for legacy S7-1200 troubleshooting work is shown in the table below.

Siemens never published a backwards-conversion tool. There is no path from a .zap15 to a .zap13. The only legal direction is upward.

TIA Portal Version Compatibility Matrix

STEP 7 in TIA Portal allows a project to be opened with the same major version and upgraded to any newer version, but only if the upgrade jumps a maximum of one major version at a time. The V13 archive cannot be loaded into V15 in a single step. It must transit through an intermediate version (V13 SP1 Update / V13 SP2 is preferred, then V14, then V14 SP1, then V15). The practical ladder for a .zap13 file is:

.zap13 / .zap13_1 / .zap13_2
        |
        v   (upgrade inside V13 SP2 + Update 9 or move to V14)
TIA Portal V13 SP2 + Update 9 --> TIA Portal V14 SP1 --> TIA Portal V15.1 + Update 9

Direct upgrade is not supported

The TIA Portal migration dialog reports "The project version V13 cannot be migrated to version V15. Please open the project in an intermediate version first." This is by design: the internal XML schema, the device-description index, and the symbol table changed substantially between V13 and V14, and again between V14 and V15. Skipping V14 corrupts the project.

The supported ladder for V13 archives

1. Retrieve the .zap13 archive inside TIA Portal V13 SP2 (with the latest Update installed). The latest TIA V13 Update was Update 9.
2. Save the project. The on-disk folder is now a .zap13-compatible working copy.
3. Upgrade and save the project in TIA Portal V14 SP1 (or V14 + Update 6).
4. Open and re-save the project in TIA Portal V15.1 + Update 9 (or whichever V15 generation is installed).
5. From this point forward, the project can be opened natively in any newer TIA Portal (V16, V17, V18, V19, V20).

Step-by-Step: Retrieving a .zap13 Project (Not "Opening")

The vocabulary distinction matters. TIA Portal cannot open a .zap archive. It must retrieve it. The retrieve operation unpacks the archive, recreates the bound device configuration, and indexes the offline DBs / OBs / FBs / FCs. The procedure is identical across V13, V14, and V15 and only differs in the destination version.

Step 1 - Launch TIA Portal in administrator mode

Right-click the TIA Portal icon and choose Run as administrator. Standard user tokens will trigger "access denied" on the TIA project storage folder.

Step 2 - Open the Project View

Switch from the Portal view to the Project view using the link in the bottom-left corner. The retrieve dialog is only available in Project view.

Step 3 - Choose Project > Retrieve

From the menu bar, navigate to Project > Retrieve (in V13 it is also reachable via the Open project dialog after switching the file-type filter to *.zap*). Browse to the .zap13 file and click Open.

Step 4 - Select a target directory and unique project name

Pick a working directory with full read/write access. If the destination already contains a project with the same name, TIA Portal refuses to overwrite and prompts for a new name. Use a name that encodes the version lineage, for example PumpStation_V13_To_V15_2024Q1, to avoid later confusion.

Step 5 - Handle the upgrade warning

If the local TIA Portal version is newer than the archive's native version (the common case with a .zap13 archive and a V15 install), TIA Portal prompts: "The project must be upgraded. Do you want to continue?". Click Yes. The upgrade runs in-place and writes a backup of the pre-upgrade project next to the new project.

Step 6 - Watch for missing optional packages and GSD/GSDML files

If the project references third-party PROFINET or PROFIBUS devices, TIA Portal will display an "Installation of device description failed" message during retrieval. Each missing GSD or GSDML file must be installed separately via Options > Manage general station description files (GSD). The retrieval then resumes automatically.

Step 7 - Compile, save, and document

After the retrieve completes:

1. Right-click the PLC and select Compile > Hardware (rebuild all).
2. Right-click the PLC and select Compile > Software (rebuild all blocks).
3. Project > Save As and select the matching .zap15 format.

Windows 7 64-bit Host or VM Setup

Because TIA Portal V13 and V13 SP1/V13 SP2 ship against Windows 7 SP1 64-bit (Windows 8.1 support was added in V13 SP1 Update 4 and is partial), the only stable environments for running these legacy TIA Portal versions are:

• A dedicated Windows 7 SP1 64-bit engineering station.
• A Windows 7 SP1 64-bit virtual machine running on Windows 10 (or Windows 11) via Hyper-V, VMware Workstation 15.x, or Oracle VirtualBox 6.x.

The recommended VM disk layout reserves 100 GB for the system drive and at least 50 GB for a working drive holding the .zap13 archives. Virtualize at least 4 CPU cores and 8 GB of RAM; the V13 installer is heavy on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express, which is RAM-greedy on first boot.

Hyper-V quick setup

New-VM -Name "TIA-V13" -Generation 2 -MemoryStartupBytes 8GB -BootDevice VHD -SwitchName "External"
New-VHD -Path "D:\VMs\TIA-V13.vhdx" -SizeBytes 100GB -Dynamic
Add-VMHardDiskDrive -VMName "TIA-V13" -Path "D:\VMs\TIA-V13.vhdx"
Set-VMProcessor -VMName "TIA-V13" -Count 4
Start-VM -Name "TIA-V13"

After the VM boots the Windows 7 SP1 64-bit ISO and completes Windows Update to the level the original TIA V13 installer was validated against, install the V13 base product, then the SP1 add-on if required, then Update 9. A clean install order is mandatory; otherwise the SQL Server instance fails during configuration.

STEP 7 TIA Portal Article Numbers (V20)

Siemens re-numbered the STEP 7 ordering codes starting with the V20 generation. The order numbers per the official V20 S7-1200 manual collection (see the URL in the Overview) are:

For each major version there is also a "Power Pack" upgrade license that allows migrating an existing license to the current version without buying a new full license. For older V13 licenses, Siemens Support typically issues the power pack on a per-request basis; contact Siemens Industry Online Support directly with the original CoL (Certificate of License) PDF.

Handling GSD / GSDML Files and Add-Ons

When the .zap13 project pulls in third-party PROFINET or PROFIBUS devices, TIA Portal uses the GSD (PROFIBUS) or GSDML (PROFINET) generic station description files to render the device in the hardware catalog. If the V15 installation lacks the GSD/GSDML revision that the V13 project referenced, retrieval warns "Device description not found."

Procedure:

1. From the device vendor, obtain the latest GSD or GSDML file. PROFINET GSDML revisions are year-versioned (for example GSDML-V2.4-...).
2. In TIA Portal, choose Options > Manage general station description files (GSD).
3. Browse to the GSD/GSDML file, accept the EULA, and confirm installation.
4. Repeat the retrieve operation. The dialog re-runs the device-description verification.

Similarly, TIA Portal supports add-on packages such as S7-1200 Motion Control or vendor-specific libraries. Install the matching add-on version before retrieving the archive. The retrieve will otherwise silently strip the missing pieces.

Verification

Once the .zap13 archive has been successfully retrieved and the project compiles clean, perform the following verification checklist before declaring the migration complete.

1. Cross-reference: Open the original .zap13 in V13 SP2 side-by-side with the new .zap15 working copy and confirm the OB / FB / FC / DB / UDT counts match. The compare editor in TIA Portal supports this directly.
2. Hardware catalog consistency: Inspect every station for "replaced module" warnings. V13 used an older HW catalog; module substitutes are common after upgrade.
3. Watch table smoke test: Establish an online connection to the live CPU (or a PLCSIM instance of the S7-1200) and force a few discrete I/O points using the watch table. Boolean logic must match the V13 source.
4. Compile all blocks: The first compile after a major-version upgrade occasionally emits warnings (truncation, type coercion) that did not exist in V13. Treat every warning as a defect until proven otherwise.
5. Download to CPU: The first download after upgrade may require a memory reset ("Reset to factory settings") on the CPU. Plan a maintenance window.
6. Backup: Save the migrated project as both the native .zap15 (current) and an exported .zap13 (legacy read-only) where permissible. The exported .zap13 is read-only because TIA Portal will not allow a round-trip back to V13.

Troubleshooting Matrix

The matrix below summarizes the failure modes engineers hit most often when handling legacy .zap13 archives against a modern TIA Portal install.

Frequently Asked Questions