Generative Remove keeps disappearing when navigating between photos in Lightroom Classic 15.0.1
I am experiencing a persistent and reproducible issue with Generative Remove in Lightroom Classic 15.0.1.
The AI removal does not remain applied to the image. When I return to a previously edited photo, the generative removal is missing and a yellow “Update AI” button appears.
After clicking “Update AI”, the edit reappears—however, once I continue editing other images, the generative removal disappears again.
This happens consistently across a large project of approximately 100 RAW images.
My setup:
Lightroom Classic 15.0.1
macOS 15.7.2
Mac Studio M1 Max
64 GB RAM
Fast internal SSD
GPU set to Auto
Symptoms:
Generative Remove works correctly on the first image.
After editing several more images, returning to earlier images shows that the generative removal is gone.
A yellow “Update AI” button appears on affected images.
Clicking the button restores the edit, but it disappears again later during continued work.
This makes batch export impossible, because only the most recently edited images include the generative removal in the exported file.
All other develop settings remain intact (basic adjustments, masks, etc.). Only Generative Remove is affected.
Troubleshooting steps attempted (none resolved the issue):
Verified that no newer Lightroom Classic updates are available
Restarted the computer
Reset Lightroom preferences
Optimized the catalog
Cleared Camera Raw cache
Increased cache size (up to 100 GB)
Confirmed stable internet connection
Tested GPU settings (on, off, auto)
Disabled any VPN or firewall
Switched modules after applying generative removal (Library → Develop)
Exported in small batches
Opened from a catalog backup
Reinstalled Creative Cloud components
Verified all macOS and Adobe components are fully updated
Tested with a new set of RAW files in the same catalog
The issue also occurs in completely new edit sessions
Key observation:
Generative Remove appears not to be written correctly to the .lrcat or .lrcat-data files. Lightroom forgets the generative layer as soon as I navigate away from the image.
Request:
Is this a known issue in Lightroom Classic 15.x?
Is there a fix, or a reliable workaround to ensure that Generative Remove is permanently saved? At present, I cannot complete any project that relies on this feature.
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