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inkfountain
inkfountain
Inspiring
August 9, 2020
Answered

can I restore only part of the middle era of a library?

  • August 9, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 526 views

I just  realized that part of my LR library went missing on February of 2019. About 7 months of cataloguing disappeared. I have the backups for the missing period, in this case, from June 2017-Dec 2017. However, the backup catalogues don't have any of my work AFTER Feb 7, 2019. Thus, if I restore from a backup, all of my edits & catalog work for the past year an a half will disappear.

 

Is there any way to restore PART of a Lightroom catalogue that went missing over a year ago without losing current data?

Please let me know!

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer dj_paige

Open the backup, select the desired photos, use File->Export as Catalog. Then, open the current LR catalog, and File->Import from Another Catalog, and point to the catalog you just created from the backup.

 

Why does this happen? Usually because at some point you started using (perhaps without realizing it) a backup, and so nothing new gets added to your original catalog.

3 replies

Rob_Cullen
Community Expert
Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 9, 2020

FYI The correct answer given by dj-Paige is also explained in this link from the Lightroom Queen-

RESTORE PARTIAL from backup catalog?

 

 

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.3, Photoshop 27.5, ACR 18.3, Lightroom 9.3, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.3 .
    Just Shoot Me
    Just Shoot Me
    Legend
    August 9, 2020

    Then more than likely, for some unknown reason, you have opened an older catalog.

    You need to find out how many catalogs there are on your system and open the newest one.

    inkfountain
    inkfountainAuthor
    Inspiring
    August 9, 2020

    No, that's not true. I had to go through all the backups to find when the files went missing, opening & closing them one at a time. My current catalogue is missing a part of 2017.

    gary_sc
    Community Expert
    gary_scCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 9, 2020

    Great detective work Inkfountain,

     

    Since you've done that, if you can narrow it down to an even tighter, (say) between March and August, then in the catalog that has those images, do a search for that range. Then, as DJ, said, "export as catalog" then you can import that catalog in the last step.

     

    Good luck!

    dj_paige
    dj_paigeCorrect answer
    Legend
    August 9, 2020

    Open the backup, select the desired photos, use File->Export as Catalog. Then, open the current LR catalog, and File->Import from Another Catalog, and point to the catalog you just created from the backup.

     

    Why does this happen? Usually because at some point you started using (perhaps without realizing it) a backup, and so nothing new gets added to your original catalog.

      inkfountain
      inkfountainAuthor
      Inspiring
      August 9, 2020

      There is plenty newer stuff in the original catalogue, after the missing items. The missing material is between the months of June and December of 2017. It went missing in March of 2019. The last time it was in the catalogue was in february of 2019. But if I restore from the February 2019 catalogue, then everything between March 2019 & the present will be missing. That's my dilemma. I have tried everything I can think of, going through all the old catalogues to pin-point the error, (& then of course restarted with the current catalogue again), but I cannot figure out how to restore only those few months.

       

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