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charabi146
Participant
July 29, 2025
Answered

Files in conflict and blank previews

  • July 29, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 123 views

Hello everybody,
i Need a bit of help. The Problem is Conflict files and blank previews.
My set up:
In Dropbox: my pics library including its LR Classic catalog and related files
LR Classic version 14.4 and camera raw 17.4 installed both in my laptop HP and my office Tower Lenovo.
The idea was to work simultaneously on my pics in my office or with the HP at home.
Problem: i started to have Conflict files:
MyPicsImport-v13-4 (cah-hps in Konflikt stehende Kopie 2025-07-09) Helper.lrdata
MyPicsImport-v13-4 (cah-hps in Konflikt stehende Kopie 2025-07-09) Previews.lrdata
MyPicsImport-v13-4 (cah-hps in Konflikt stehende Kopie 2025-07-09) Sync.lrdata
MyPicsImport-v13-4 (cah-hps in Konflikt stehende Kopie 2025-07-09).lrcatdata
And then when starting lightoom on my both computers no more previews, blank frames only.
My questions:
1) using the same Pictures directory in dropbox with the pictures and the catalog inside, why a conflict?
2) what to do when the files are in Conflict?
Thanks a lot for your help

Charles

 

Correct answer Noel Orridge

Hi @charabi146! Thank you for reaching out! I'll try to make things clearer for you.

 

Lightroom Classic is not designed for simultaneous multi-device catalog access via cloud sync services like Dropbox. When Dropbox detects that the same file (e.g., your .lrcat, .lrdata files) was modified on both your laptop and Lenovo tower before syncing could complete, Dropbox creates a "conflicted copy" to avoid overwriting changes. 

 

To fix this, you'd need to compare the timestamps and file sizes of the original and conflicted .lrcat files and open each in LrC one at a time. Once you've identified which one has the most recent edits, you can delete or move the others to a backup location. 

 

I'd suggest you keep your catalog and photos on an external SSD and plug it into whichever machine you're using at that moment. This avoids sync issues entirely and keeps everything in one place, or you could also migrate your workflow to the cloud-based Lightroom, as it syncs edits, metadata, and images across devices.

 

Please check out this article by Lightroom Queen as well for in-depth information on Is it safe to store a Lightroom catalog on the new Dropbox macOS beta? | The Lightroom Queen

 

Hope this helps! 

Cheers!

1 reply

Noel Orridge
Community Manager
Noel OrridgeCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
Community Manager
July 29, 2025

Hi @charabi146! Thank you for reaching out! I'll try to make things clearer for you.

 

Lightroom Classic is not designed for simultaneous multi-device catalog access via cloud sync services like Dropbox. When Dropbox detects that the same file (e.g., your .lrcat, .lrdata files) was modified on both your laptop and Lenovo tower before syncing could complete, Dropbox creates a "conflicted copy" to avoid overwriting changes. 

 

To fix this, you'd need to compare the timestamps and file sizes of the original and conflicted .lrcat files and open each in LrC one at a time. Once you've identified which one has the most recent edits, you can delete or move the others to a backup location. 

 

I'd suggest you keep your catalog and photos on an external SSD and plug it into whichever machine you're using at that moment. This avoids sync issues entirely and keeps everything in one place, or you could also migrate your workflow to the cloud-based Lightroom, as it syncs edits, metadata, and images across devices.

 

Please check out this article by Lightroom Queen as well for in-depth information on Is it safe to store a Lightroom catalog on the new Dropbox macOS beta? | The Lightroom Queen

 

Hope this helps! 

Cheers!

Noel
C
charabi146Author
Participant
July 29, 2025

Thanks a lot Noel, quite clear!

Have a great day

Charles

 

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