Participant

P: LrD v9.4 on macOS crashes, or does not launch

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
June 22, 2026
58 replies
863 views

I’m trying to open the Lightroom desktop app on a 2021 Macbook Pro. It looks as if the app starts to open, but then crashes immediately. I’ve tried restarting my laptop, uninstalling and reinstalling lightroom, and signing out/signing back into the Adobe Creative Cloud app. I’m still able to access other Adobe products on the laptop, it’s just Lightroom itself that’s unable to open. I can’t provide any screenshots, since the app itself won’t open.

It’s not Lightroom Classic, but the new Lightroom app.

Pinned Reply By Rikk Flohr_Photography

Greetings all,

A new update for the Adobe Photography products has been released. The August release (x.5) contains an update regarding this issue.

If you do not see the update in your Creative Cloud Application, you can refresh it by pressing [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ].

Note: It may take up to 24 hours for your update to be available in your Creative Cloud app.

Thank you for being so patient.

Show previous replies

M

mrechst

Participant

I have the exact same problem as well. Photoshop, Bridge and Lightroom classic open fine, Lightroom desktop version will not open. I looked at the steps for using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool and it seems to be beyond my computer capabilities.

R

RMW888

Participant

I recently updated Lightroom and now the application is not opening. I have tried deinstalling it and reinstalling it but this hasn’t fixed it. I am using MAC OS 26.5.2 and Lightroom v9.4.1.

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @ericmdrs, thanks for reaching out! Let’s try a few things to see if we can get Lightroom to open again.

Update Creative Cloud Desktop to the latest version first, then update Lightroom.
Force-quit Adobe background processes (Activity Monitor → quit Adobe Desktop Service, CCXProcess, Core Sync), then reboot.
Check Privacy permissions: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, and make sure Lightroom and Creative Cloud are enabled. Also check Files and Folders.
Try holding Option on launch and test whether the app itself opens.

If none of these help, please try a clean reinstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool. I hope this helps! ^CH

K

kaitlynr9413379

Participant

I’m also having this same issue. I’m not sure when it started since I don’t frequently use Lightroom but I’ve been trying to open it for about 30 minutes now and nothing happens. I too have:

reset preferences
restarted my computer
uninstalled and reinstalled
force quit all Adobe processes
signed out and back into Creative Cloud

I’m on a 2024 Macbook Pro with Tahoe 26.5.2 MacOS. I have the cloud-based Lightroom (9.4.1) installed.

It doesn’t appear to have a crash report in the Console. I don’t think it’s even getting to that stage. When I try to open the program it’s not even open for a second before dissappearing/closing.

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @kaitlynr9413379, thanks for reaching out! Let’s try a few things to see if we can get Lightroom to open again.

Update Creative Cloud Desktop to the latest version first, then update Lightroom.
Force-quit Adobe background processes (Activity Monitor → quit Adobe Desktop Service, CCXProcess, Core Sync), then reboot.
Check Privacy permissions: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, and make sure Lightroom and Creative Cloud are enabled. Also check Files and Folders.
Try holding Option on launch and see if the app itself opens.

If none of these help, please try a clean reinstall using the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool. I hope this helps! ^CH

H

hallanders

Participant

Got the same exact problem :( on a macbook air m2

Srishti Bali

Community Manager

Hi @JasminePR

I'm sorry you're running into this. Since Lightroom was working just a few days ago and you've already tried resetting preferences, granting Full Disk Access, reinstalling the app, and restarting your Mac, let's try a few deeper troubleshooting steps.

Force quit all Adobe processes
- Open Activity Monitor and quit any Adobe-related processes (Lightroom, Creative Cloud, Adobe Desktop Service, Creative Cloud Helper, etc.).
- Once they're all closed, try launching Lightroom again.
Test in a new macOS user account
- Create a temporary administrator account (System Settings > Users & Groups) and try launching Lightroom there.
- If it opens in the new account, the issue is likely related to your macOS user profile rather than Lightroom itself.
Check whether Lightroom is crashing
- Open Console.app and see if a crash report appears when you try to launch Lightroom. If it does, let us know what it says or share the crash log.
Sign out and back into the Creative Cloud desktop app
- Sometimes licensing or background service issues can prevent Lightroom from launching.

Could you also let us know:

Are you using Lightroom Classic or the cloud-based Lightroom?
Which version of Lightroom is installed?
When you try to open it, does nothing happen at all, or does the Lightroom icon briefly appear in the Dock before disappearing?
Did your Mac install any macOS or Adobe updates between Wednesday (when it last worked) and now?

That information will help narrow down whether this is a startup crash, a catalog issue, or something related to the recent software environment.

Thanks, Srishti Bali | Community & Engagement Strategist, Digital Imaging | Adobe

J

JasminePR

Participant

Hi Srishti,

I have tried all of the above and it’s still not opening in my profile. It does open as a guest admin, but I can’t be switching between the two profiles for work really. Nothing appears in the console app when I try and open it.

I am using Lightroom classic I believe, it says ‘Lightroom CC’ in the applications folder and I downloaded the app from the creative cloud app.

The icon appears in the dock and bounces once before disappearing.

I have not (consciously) installed any updates since it last worked.

Please help!

J

JasminePR

Participant

I am using a 2022 MacBook Air, on a Sequoia 15.5 MacOS.

Lightroom simply will not launch, no matter how I try to open it. Today is Monday, it was working on Wednesday, I have no idea what has happened since. I’ve tried the following and still nothing! Please help!!!

Tried:

shift + option to reset preferences
enabling full disk access
option while clicking to open catalog dialogue
restarted the MacBook three times
uninstalled and reinstalled the desktop app twice

B

Bugz

Participant

Lightroom is refusing to open. It opened originally but was telling me there was an update. I closed Lightroom and went into Creative Cloud to update. No indication I was not not already up to date. Updated Photoshop and Camera Raw. Tried to go back into Lightroom and now it won't open?