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November 26, 2025
Answered

All photos are gone

  • November 26, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 98 views

I updated my Lightroom classic lastnight before finalizing a clients gallery, and after I did that, ALL of my photos and presents are gone! What happened and how to I bring it back? I am now behind on delivering a gallery to a client because without my photos, I have to restart ALL of the photo edits all over. 

Correct answer Rob_Cullen

An upgrade to the Lr-Classic app is sometimes known to create a new empty catalog that gives the appearance that your photos are "gone".  (I experienced this when I kept my primary catalog on an external drive.)

So I suggest you start by using File explorer to search for all catalog files (Filetype suffix of  .LRCAT) and [Double Click] on each until you find the catalog with your photos.  This might be the remedy.

"Presets are gone" also suggests that you primary catalog may have stored presets within its parent folder, and a new empty catalog is now looking in the default location for Develop presets. (See Preference settings).

When you have recovered your primary catalog set the preferences to 'Always open this catalog'.

 

 

 

1 reply

Rob_Cullen
Community Expert
Rob_CullenCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
November 26, 2025

An upgrade to the Lr-Classic app is sometimes known to create a new empty catalog that gives the appearance that your photos are "gone".  (I experienced this when I kept my primary catalog on an external drive.)

So I suggest you start by using File explorer to search for all catalog files (Filetype suffix of  .LRCAT) and [Double Click] on each until you find the catalog with your photos.  This might be the remedy.

"Presets are gone" also suggests that you primary catalog may have stored presets within its parent folder, and a new empty catalog is now looking in the default location for Develop presets. (See Preference settings).

When you have recovered your primary catalog set the preferences to 'Always open this catalog'.

 

 

 

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.4.1, Photoshop 27.8, ACR 18.4, Lightroom 9.4, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .