Came back into a 50% complete catalog and all edits and stars are gone.

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
June 19, 2025
4 replies
351 views

Just lost all edits and cull in catalog after exiting and coming back into it 3 hours later. Reverted back to imported images with no edit history or my star ratings. What the heck happened and how do I fix it. It was 50% complete

[Moved from ‘Bugs’ to ‘Discussions’ by moderator, according to forum rules.]

Windows

T

T.MaksimoAuthor

Participant

It truly as if the auto save didn't save. I even exported 15 images last night that were completely done and now they have no edit history and back to original

J

JimHess

Inspiring

This has never happened to me. How often do you back up your catalog? Did you back up after you completed your work? If you did, have you tried restoring the backup?

Claire H.

Community Manager

Hi @T.Maksimo, Welcome to the Lightroom Classic forums, and thanks for reaching out. Let's try a few things to see if we can find the other half of the photos.

1. Check if you opened the wrong catalog: Go to File > Open Recent and see if another catalog is listed. Try opening each one to see if your edits reappear.

2. Look for a backup catalog: Lightroom often creates backups (if enabled). Check your Pictures > Lightroom > Backups folder and open the most recent .lrcat file.
3. Reset Lightroom Preferences: Please refer to this Helpx article for steps: https://adobe.ly/3HsQXpA. It is recommended that you back up your catalog before resetting preferences. For more information, see this article: https://adobe.ly/4dW8vqF.

If Lightroom crashed or was forced to close, it might have reverted to an earlier state. Unfortunately, this can sometimes wipe recent edits if they weren't saved. Could you let me know if this issue continues? I hope this helps! ^CH

T

T.MaksimoAuthor

Participant

It truly as if the auto save didn't save

T

T.MaksimoAuthor

Participant

been using Lightroom for 8 years. Never have I seen this. Literally reverted back to just imported images. I can see my edits in the thumbnails but as I go to click on the image in develop the edit disappears. There is no history for any image either. And all my stars are gone from my photos. Exiting the program to finish an gallery and came back in to a blank slate. All images are there. Just un-culled and edited

J

JimHess

Inspiring

I know, this is a really stupid question. But, are you looking at the images using Lightroom, or are you just looking at the images with something else? Since it indicates that you are "new here", I have to ask. The changes will only show within Lightroom unless you have exported copies. If this response offends you I apologize. It's the only way I can think of that your editing wouldn't show.

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