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P: Search for multiple words in filenames

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 6, 2021
18 replies
3176 views

Hi, I have an issue with Lightroom (installed from the adobe cloud). Search is broken for me all the time when searching for words in file names. I can't get it to come back with any results for anything. It says "Oh no! A blackhole"

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Duh_Mendes6735

Participant

Hello Adobe Support Team,

I am writing to report a serious issue in Lightroom CC (the cloud version / mobile adapted for desktop).

When trying to search for multiple photos by filename, the software does not work correctly. If I enter one or two filenames, the search still responds. But as soon as I add three or more, the system fails: it either returns nothing or breaks, making it impossible to select multiple files at once.

This behavior is extremely limiting. I often need to locate several specific images within a project, and this is a basic feature that any professional photo management software should handle.

We are now in October 2025, and the issue is still present, even though users have been reporting it for over two years. It is very frustrating to pay a high subscription price for a professional tool and see that such a simple function, available in competitors and in Lightroom Classic, still does not work in the cloud version.

I urge Adobe to take this bug seriously and fix it. Photographers and creators depend on this functionality, and it is disappointing that no solution or official response has been provided after all this time.

Sincerely,
Eduardo Mendes

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arthur_8399

Participant

@PeterB217095629 Thank you for your reply. Feel free to message me, I'll gladly provide more information if need be in order to get this fixed as soon as possible.

-Arthur.

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PeterB217095629

Community Manager

Thank you for your report. This is indeed a known limitation. We hope to have an improvement in this area shortly.

-Peter

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arthur_8399

Participant

I'm having an issue with the search bar in Lightroom which doesn't return any results if I try to search more than two file names eg IMG_0001, IMG_0002. However I can search up to four photos if I include the file extension eg IMG_0001.cr2, IMG_0002.cr2, IMG_0003.cr2, IMG_0004.cr2.

I searched high and low and saw people having this issue for years and no solution. This problem does not occur in LrC.

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P5E0A

Participant

Not sure why I can't locate multiple files by name at once in LR CC. Once you get two filename it just goes to the black hole screen. Works fine in classic - not sure why it doesn't work in this system.

Felipe Castruita

Participant

Coming to find this post because I'm having the same issue. I'm looking to move completely from LR Classic to CC and this is what's stopping me. When a client finishes a selection, I get a list of file names for me to start in post production. I personally use Pixieset and can create a few options:

- List with space: File001 File002

- List with comma File001, File002, File003

- optional: to include the file extension, in my case ARW at the end of the file name, e.g: FILE001.ARW, FILE001.ARW

The best that I've been able to pull is 4 files at a time by using: Filename+Extension+comma+line break with OPT+ENTER on my mac, so the list looks like this:

Filename001.ARW,

Filename002.ARW,

Filename003.ARW,

Filename004.ARW

IF I add a 5th line, it will not work.

Hope we can get some assistance with this!

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P5E0A

Participant

This is my exact problem! I also use pixieset and like the ability to edit photos on my ipad with Lightroom CC but cannot switch over because of this issue!

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umlautnord

Inspiring

I realize this is only partially related to the specific "OR" logic request, but Lightroom's somewhat strange and inconsistent behavior when it comes to handling search terms for even single file names themselves (noted by @peter-b8062983) is also really relevant here. Sometimes more specificity will produce more results when searching for file name. See https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/issue-searching-by-file-name-for-enhance-denoise-created-dngs-and-dupe-filename-imports/m-p/14419918 for some examples. I don't see as a bug in these forums hopefully it was just filed internally!

MEMOTO

Participant

please we need search/filter multiple photos by file number of by file name.

How do I search for several photos in a search, for example I am looking for 3 photos out of 817 photos with the names IMG_0009, IMG_0014, IMG_0033?

In Lightroom Classic I can just write 0009 0014 0033 with the "contains" option then all photos that have that number will appear but in Lightroom 7 I have trouble using that feature. Is there no way to do it in lightroom 7?

if it can't or doesn't exist. Please make changes or additions to this feature as Lightroom Classic can do

MEMOTO

Participant

How do I search for several photos in a search, for example I am looking for 3 photos out of 817 photos with the names IMG_0009, IMG_0014, IMG_0033? In Lightroom Classic I can just write 0009 0014 0033 with the "contains" option then all photos that have that number will appear but in Lightroom CC I have trouble using that feature. Is there no way to do it in lightroom CC?

KostFan2

Known Participant

Try using that feature but search for one file at a time: IMG_0009. Your screen shot looked like you searched for 3 all at once

MEMOTO

Participant

yes nothing wrong with that. that's exactly what I need. instantly search for 3 or more files in 1 search. As I said I can do it in Lightroom Classic, the question is can I do it in Lightroom CC? How?

it is easy if just search for one file at a time but I need more than that.

This is needed by many wedding photographers or others to sort the files that have been selected using the search/filter feature. Is there anyone else experiencing the same problem as me?
can anyone help me?

Hoffmedia

Participant

This seems to be working for me now. It is unfortunate that I will have to add that file extension each time, but it's doable.

Hoffmedia

Participant

I'm running into an issue where when I do a batch search I can only get results if I search two photos. That is the max. When I search for 3 or more, I receive the Oh no! A black hole error. This is extremely frustrating when I have a client send me a list of proofed items and I want to just select those photos in lightroom.