The first time you open a portal project, you browse from ArcGIS Pro to your ArcGIS Enterprise portal and select the project from a content collection, such as My Content or My Groups.
The project is downloaded to your computer and stored in a folder with a unique alphanumeric name in the default location: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\ArcGIS\OnlineProjects. The project opens in ArcGIS Pro from this location and you work in the local copy of the project.
The next time you open the project—and any subsequent time—it's the local copy that opens. This is the case whether you open the project from the recent projects list, open it directly from the download location, or open it by browsing to it on the portal.
The first time you open a project, you may be prompted to provide database connection credentials. This happens when the project’s active view references data in an enterprise geodatabase, and the database uses database authentication to confirm your access to the data. If you are not initially prompted for credentials, you are prompted when you first interact with a view in the project that references enterprise geodatabase data.
Learn more about database authentication and portal projects
Open a project for the first time from the portal
To open a portal project for the first time, complete the following steps:
- Start ArcGIS Pro, and ensure that your ArcGIS Enterprise portal is active. On the start page, click Open another project
. Alternatively, in an open project, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list of side tabs, click Open and click Open another project
. - On the Open Project dialog box, in the navigation pane, under Portal, click a portal collection, such as My Content
or My Groups 
. - In the contents list, click a project to select it, or use the search box at the top of the dialog box to search for a project.
- Click OK.
The project is downloaded to your computer and opens.
Open a portal project from the Recent Projects list
Once a project has been opened, it appears in the Recent Projects list on the start page and in the ArcGIS Pro jump list on the Windows taskbar if this option is enabled on your computer.
Because you opened the project previously, a local copy exists on your computer. It is the local copy of the project that opens—the project is not downloaded again from the portal. (The project is downloaded again from the portal only if the local copy of the project is deleted.)
Learn more about working with recent projects
To open a portal project from the Recent Projects list, complete the following steps:
- Access the recent projects list in either of the following ways:
- Start ArcGIS Pro; the start page appears with the Home tab selected.
- From an open project, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the ArcGIS Pro settings, in the list of side tabs, click Open.
- Click the project you want to open.
The local copy of the project opens.
You can also right-click a portal project in the recent projects list to open the location of the local copy of the project in File Explorer or to open the project’s item details page on the portal.
Open a deleted portal project
If a portal project is deleted from the ArcGIS Enterprise portal, but the local copy of the project exists on your computer, you can open the project by doing either of the following:
- Click the project in the recent projects list.
- Browse to the project download location and double-click the project .aprx file.
The project opens in the state in which it was last saved on your computer. You can continue working; however, you cannot save changes to the portal because the portal item no longer exists. When you save the project, an error message appears. To save your work, you can either save the project as a local project or save the project as a new portal project.
You cannot get updates from a deleted portal project or overwrite a deleted portal project.
Note:
If the portal project exists, but the local copy of the project is deleted from the download location, you can reopen the project from the portal. This is the same as opening the project for the first time.
Failure to open a project
A portal project may fail to open for the following reasons:
- You do not have permission to open the project because of sharing settings or your user type.
- You are not signed in to the portal on which the project is stored, or the portal is not the active portal.
- The project is open in another instance of ArcGIS Pro on your computer.
- The project is compromised.
If you do not have permission to open the project, you can contact the project owner or your organization administrator for help. If the portal on which the project is stored is not active, you can change your active portal. If the portal is active but you are not signed in to it, you can sign in to access content.