Catalog Backup Fails when Closing the Application - MAC OS. LRC Version 14.5.1

Question

Recently, LRC started giving me the following error message when I close the app:

Lightroom was unable to back up the catalog names "Lightroom 5 Catalog..." Please check your folder permissions, and make sure that you have available space on your backup drive and the main catalog's drive."

I've tried several external drives to write the backup to and all fail with the same error. All have plenty of space. LRC was given full disk access in MAC OS.

I have even tried to make a new catalog and then import the old one to it. That also fails with a generic error and does not complete.

Any help would be appreciated!

JohanElzenga · Accepted Answer

Well, I restored a good backup from about 3 weeks ago. It loaded up fine. Then, I tried to make a new backup of that catalog and it failed with the same error. I reconfirmed that LRC had full disk access and that there was plenty of space on the backup drive.

I now do not think the problems are caused by a corrupted catalog.

Still looking for a solution.

I do think it's catalog corruption and my method has helped quite a number of people solve it. I also do think there might be a problem with Lightroom Classic 14.5 being more picky than earlier versions, so the corruption could have been present for a long time without you knowing it. For at least one person the following worked: downgrade to Lightroom Classic 14.4, then perform the import from another catalog action. There's a good chance it will work with that version. Then, having a new catalog without corruption, you can update again to 14.5.

JohanElzenga · Answer

This problem has been reported here several times. It is caused by catalog corruption. What you could try is this: Create a brand new catalog and choose 'File - Import from Another Catalog'. Select your old catalog to import. In the import dialog choose to import all photos, but do not move them. This will create an exact copy of your old catalog, but usually without the corruption. The only thing that won't come across is any publishing services you may have. You will have to recreate those. If you synced your catalog then you will have to enable sync for the new catalog. There are some reports that this could cause a problem. Here’s how to solve that: https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/2025/1/lr026-fixing-sync-problems-caused-by-switching-the-sync-catalog

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