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J
Jeena22389650a1ho
Known Participant
February 2, 2026
Question

Anyone Else Wish LR could Catalog Unsupported Video Files (Even Just Visibility Only)?

  • February 2, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 0 views

I’d like to request a feature that would significantly improve Lightroom Classic as a media catalog, especially for modern hybrid photo/video creators.

 

Request:

Please allow Lightroom Classic to catalog and display unsupported video files (thumbnail + basic metadata + tagging), even if playback or editing is not supported.

 

To be very clear:

I am not asking for editing, scrubbing, reframing, or decoding support.

I only want the file to be visible in the catalog so I know it exists.

 

Why this matters

Many of us use Lightroom Classic as our primary organizational hub — our “single pane of glass” to see all photo and video assets at a glance.

 

However, Lightroom currently completely ignores video files it doesn’t recognize at the codec/container level. This makes those files effectively invisible, even though they are critical parts of our projects.

 

A major real-world example:

  • Insta360 cameras (X3, X4, X5) are now extremely common

  • Their native video formats (e.g. .insv) are widely used

  • These files are entirely invisible in Lightroom Classic

This forces users to maintain parallel systems, proxy hacks, or external spreadsheets just to remember footage exists — which defeats the purpose of Lightroom as a catalog.

 

What users actually need

At minimum, we need:

  • File presence in the catalog

  • A thumbnail or placeholder

  • Filename, date, folder awareness

  • Ability to keyword, rate, color-label, and stack

  • “Show in Finder / Explorer”

That’s it.

 

Even a generic icon or poster frame would be enough.

Playback can be disabled. Editing can be disabled.

 

Visibility is the key.

 

 

Why this aligns with Lightroom’s role

Lightroom Classic is already positioned as:

  • A DAM (Digital Asset Manager)

  • A long-term archive tool

  • A hybrid photo/video catalog

  •  

Right now, that promise breaks down the moment a file uses a modern or proprietary container.

 

This request would:

  • Improve hybrid creator workflows

  • Reduce friction with popular cameras

  • Keep Lightroom relevant as video formats continue to diversify

  • Require far less engineering effort than full codec support

 

    2 replies

    E
    ExUSA
    Legend
    February 2, 2026

    I’d MUCH rather that Lightroom cataloged and displayed Photoshop files without a composite layer. This is Adobe’s own format...

    D
    dj_paige
    Legend
    February 2, 2026

    I’d MUCH rather that Lightroom cataloged and displayed Photoshop files without a composite layer. This is Adobe’s own format...

     

    I find this confusing. What does this have to do with videos?

    E
    ExUSA
    Legend
    February 2, 2026

    Its about format support. 

    D
    dj_paige
    Legend
    February 2, 2026

    You can do this today using the plugin called Any File from John R. Ellis. https://johnrellis.com/lightroom/anyfile.htm

     

    As far as this request aligning with Lightroom’s (do you mean Lightroom Classic?) role as a “long term archive tool”, maybe you use “archive”to mean something different than I think it means, but Lightroom Classic does not archive your photos or videos in any way. It is a database, it only contains information about your photos and video, it does not contain your photo files or video files.

    J
    Jeena22389650a1hoAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 2, 2026

    thank you for your response. Im talking about LR Classic. And by archiving I simply mean a place where I can see ALL of my photo/video files at a glance. A card catalog of sorts.

     

    So anyway, regarding the plugin, It took a quick look,. and it seems that plugin only created a jpg thumbnail proxy file to be displayed, so while it does help to show that the original file exists, its not super functional; for example If I were to right click and reveal in finder, i’d found myself at the jpg proxy, not the file itself, right? And further, if I decided to move the original file on the drive, I couldnt do that within LR, because it would simply move the proxy? Ill download it later and try it out, but it seems like it doesnt not have the functionality that im looking for. I need to be able to reveal in finder, move the files around from within LR Classic, etc. 

     

    Thanks for your help

    E
    ExUSA
    Legend
    February 2, 2026

    Lightroom is incomplete in terms of format support and probably always will be. Adobe Bridge is better in some ways- you can see Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere files etc but format support will always be incomplete there as well, simply because with video especially there will always be new codecs and formats.

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