Skip to main content
dj_paige
Legend
Aug 16, 2026 10:03 AM UTC
Investigating

P: Phantom Pins on Map Module

  • Description of Issue

I believe that at times, Lightroom Classic 15.5 produces phantom pins on the map, that is, pins that appear to be locations of photos, but either the count of images is wrong, or the pin itself doesn’t work (when you hover over the pin, nothing happens), or both. I understand that a major malfunction of the Map module was fixed in 15.5, but this seems like a different problem.

  • Lightroom Classic Version Number (Help>System Info…) 

Lightroom Classic 15.5

  • OS Version Number

Windows 11 25H2 (26200.9168)

  • Camera Model (sometimes necessary)

Nikon Z6 II

  • Step-by-step Reproduction Instructions (in precise terms, please)

Step 1: Select a lot of images and display the map (in my case, all photos in New York State). Zoom in. Notice the cluster of pins right in the center of this screen capture (I have drawn a red box around them).

 

Step 2: press the plus sign to zoom in more. Let’s focus on the bottom of this cluster of pins. Notice the area indicated by the arrow, there are three pins, one with 6 photos, one with 5 photos, and one sticking out below the other two, that’s 12 images in this area. However, I know this is wrong, there are not 12 images in this area (more on this later)

 

I can’t really show this via screen capture, but it you hover your mouse over the pin with 6 images, it is active and a dialog box appears where I can see thumbnails of the images and scroll through the 6 images. The pin with 5 image is not active, hovering my mouse does nothing. The pin sticking out of the bottom is also not active. Further, if I click on the pin with 6, it turns yellow indicating I have selected these images. Clicking on the other two pins in this area does not turn the pin yellow and does not select any image.

Step 3: Click on the pin which says 6. See what happens in the screen capture. The pin with a 5 and the other pin sticking out of the bottom disappear. I believe this is correct, there are only these six images in this area.

 

Step 4: Zoom in again by pressing the + key. The phantom pins return! I believe this is incorrect and now the pin with 5 and the pin with no number are active, the pin with the 6 is no longer active. Again there appear to be 12 images selected but this is incorrect.

 

Step 5: Click on an area with no pins (like the intersection of Myron Ave and E Hazeltine Ave) to deselect the images. Phantom pins disappear, now there appear to be 6 images, 5 in one pin and one in another pin (I believe this is correct)

  • The Expected Result

Map should be displayed with no phantom pins, and all counts shown are correct. All pins should be active and display a pop-up when you hover the mouse, and if you click on any pin, this should select the images represented by that pin.

  • The Actual Result

Map is shown with phantom pins that do not represent actual images, these pins should not be there, and these phantom pins are not active. Clicking on a phantom pin does not select images. Also, there are active pins with correct counts, where hovering or click has the expected behavior.

    9 replies

    Participant
    Nov 11, 2026 5:04 AM UTC

    I have the same problem with Lightroom Classic 16.0 on Windows 11.

    When I select all photos in a folder and open the Map module, phantom pins appear in incorrect locations. Hovering over or clicking these pins does not display photo previews or select photos.

    Single photo pins sometimes work correctly, but many other pins are unresponsive.

    Please investigate and fix this issue.

    Translate
    dj_paige
    dj_paigeAuthor
    Legend
    Nov 11, 2026 9:40 AM UTC

    Yes, I see the same problem in Lightroom Classic 16.0 on Windows. A partial workaround until this is fixed is to click on an empty area on the map and sometimes (but not 100% of the time) the phantom pins disappear.

    Translate
    Legend
    Aug 23, 2026 10:09 AM UTC

    One final screen shot after zooming in to see more detail:

     

    I still have one photo selected, but it seems to be associated with 4 pins (yellow) in different locations. It is actually the yellow pin with no count (single photo), the others are false.

     

    Translate
    Legend
    Aug 23, 2026 10:03 AM UTC

    Here are some screen shots of a test I did with only 8 photos on the Map. Zoomed in showing the 8 pins:

     

    Now zoomed out there is a pin for the 8 photos, but there are two other pins which aren’t associated with any photos:

     

    Zoomed in again and now it looks like there are pins for 11 photos:

     

    Click on a photo to select it on the Map without zooming and the pins update to show correctly with a total of 8 photos:

     

    Zoom out and back in a bit, I get more bizarre pins and counts (possibly 17 photos):

     

    This really needs some attention, but I have serious doubts as to whether it will get any.

     

    Translate
    johnrellis
    Legend
    Aug 23, 2026 6:16 AM UTC

    ​@Rikk Flohr_Photography, here’s a screen recording showing the misbehavior with ​@dj_paige’s test catalog.

    Translate
    Legend
    Aug 22, 2026 2:35 PM UTC

    ​@dj_paige 

     

    I can reproduce not only with your test catalog, but also with my own catalog.

    When zoomed out, photos geolocated close together are grouped under one pin with a count, say 6. Zooming in separates these photos into individual pins, say 1 and 5, but the one shown when zoomed out with 6 still shows on top of a new pin, such the single photo; the combined pin and count seems to get left behind on zooming in.

     

    It is pretty screwed up and an obvious bug.

     

    Translate
    dj_paige
    dj_paigeAuthor
    Legend
    Aug 22, 2026 5:44 PM UTC

    ​@dj_paige 

     

    I can reproduce not only with your test catalog, but also with my own catalog.

    When zoomed out, photos geolocated close together are grouped under one pin with a count, say 6. Zooming in separates these photos into individual pins, say 1 and 5, but the one shown when zoomed out with 6 still shows on top of a new pin, such the single photo; the combined pin and count seems to get left behind on zooming in.

     

    It is pretty screwed up and an obvious bug.

     

    Thanks, ​@drtonyb 

    Maybe now someone at Adobe can take a look at this.

    Translate
    dj_paige
    dj_paigeAuthor
    Legend
    Aug 21, 2026 10:21 AM UTC

    ​@Rikk Flohr_Photography 

    Can I get someone to take a look at this? I have posted a Dropbox link to a small sample catalog that displays the problem.

    Translate
    dj_paige
    dj_paigeAuthor
    Legend
    Aug 19, 2026 9:30 PM UTC

    I have placed a small LrC catalog (35 photos) and the associated photos and lrcat-data files in a ZIP file on Dropbox. If you launch this catalog and zoom in and out in the Map module, you will see the phantom pins as I described, although they will not exactly match the screen captures above.

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9fx81hicpduzfo6ev3822/Kenmore.zip?rlkey=aua4hqy3snu5pqdtslm8ohjz1&dl=0

    Translate