Participant

Answered

Gray thumbnails with no preview on import. Impossible to import photos.

Forum|Forum|24 days ago
June 2, 2026
14 replies
151 views

Hello, I need some help please.

I can't import photos into Lightroom Classic. When I try to locate the folder, the thumbnails appear gray with no preview. When I try to quit the software, it crashes. I've tried everything: updates, creating another library, uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom Classic, restarting—nothing works. Thanks

Correct answer Scott255525676fz1

UPDATE:

Just got off the phone with Adobe tech support.

The tech person acknowledged some users are having trouble with previews, and rolled me back to Lightroom Classic version 15.2 from 15.3.

Everything is working as it should, including importing from an SD card.

The tech person suggested trying to upgrade again when the next new version is released.

Hope this helps someone, or many!

Rhiannon283893591pgb

Participating Frequently

Didn’t mean to create another reply, apologies. See previous, thank you!

Rhiannon283893591pgb

Participating Frequently

I’m experiencing the same issue - I had the problem with the previous version yesterday and then today as well after I updated to v15.4.1 . The import dialog does not function, there are no previews and I cannot import anything at all. Right now I tried to close the import dialog and it won’t even close, so I have to kill the app - this happened after I minimized the import dialog using the box with the triangle on the bottom left - it won’t go back to maximum size and won't cancel or do anything when I click done.

Lightroom Classic version 15.4.1 _BTORO.txt

Rhiannon283893591pgb

Participating Frequently

I rolled back to v15.2 and the issue persists. This is very very bad.

Rhiannon283893591pgb

Participating Frequently

Went back to 15.1 and same issue. I’m uninstalling and removing all preferences this time - I think I’ll try the latest version first, and if it doesn’t work uninstall that, remove any prefereneces and go to 15.2 again.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @Alefa974 @malacca73 @Scott255525676fz1 @Viennaeagle ,

Following up on this thread, since your original reports, we’ve released Lightroom Classic 15.4.1.

Could you please update to 15.4.1 and let us know whether you’re still seeing the same issue with gray thumbnails, missing previews, or Lightroom hanging during import?

If the issue still persists after updating, as Scott mentioned earlier, it would also be helpful if you could temporarily roll back to Lightroom Classic 15.2 and check whether the behavior goes away.

Knowing whether 15.4.1 still exhibits the issue and whether 15.2 works correctly will help us determine whether this is a regression introduced in the 15.3 release and share those observations with the product team for further investigation.

Looking forward to hearing your results.

Best,
Anshul Saini

Viennaeagle

Inspiring

I was hoping to maybe try this today but I just didn’t have time… soon

Viennaeagle

Inspiring

Hey Alefa974, Did this start after the 15.3 upgrade? If so, did you try rolling back to the 15.2.1 version?

S

Scott255525676fz1

Inspiring

Happy to read your post to know I’m not alone in the land of Lightroom Classic Misery. Same experience here. Frustrating beyond belief— with time-sensitive customer work on deck. Had the same issue about 3 weeks ago and it was only resolved after 9 or more tech support calls to Adobe over as many days, and a minimum of 4 or 5 hours of screen-share time. One call alone was 2.5 hours. The tech folks threw everything they had at it— with many fix attempts repeated multiple times with different tech people. They finally got me up-and-running and after all that, I couldn’t even tell you which of the many things they tried actually resolved the issue? Now today… out of nowhere, for no known reason— I’m dead in the water again. Same behaviors you’re seeing. A first-world problem, for sure— but man, it’s frustrating.

Lightroom Classic version: 15.3 [ 202604090947-8f3672ed ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-US
Operating system: Mac OS 26
Version: 26.5.1 [25F80]
Application architecture: arm64
Logical processor count: 16
Processor speed: NA
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Adobe GSDK Version: 1.4.0.213

Built-in memory: 65,536.0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 29.6MB / 53,084.1MB (0%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 65,536.0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 883.8 MB (1.3%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 431,096.6 MB
Memory cache size: 0.0MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 18.3 [ 2527 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 0MB / 32767MB (0%)
Camera Raw real memory: 1MB / 65536MB (0%)

Cache1:
NT- RAM:0.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, Combined:0.0MB

Cache2:
m:0.0MB, n:0.0MB

U-main: 89.0MB

Standard Preview Size: 1920 pixels
Displays: 1) 1920x1080, 2) 3840x2160

Graphics Processor Info:
Metal: Apple M4 Max
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: OFF
GPU for Preview Generation: Auto (S5_51)

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Users/myname/Pictures/Lightroom current working catalog as of 052126/Lightroom current working catalog as of 052126.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/myname/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
3) Flickr

Config.lua flags:

S

Scott255525676fz1Correct answer

Inspiring

UPDATE:

Just got off the phone with Adobe tech support.

The tech person acknowledged some users are having trouble with previews, and rolled me back to Lightroom Classic version 15.2 from 15.3.

Everything is working as it should, including importing from an SD card.

The tech person suggested trying to upgrade again when the next new version is released.

Hope this helps someone, or many!

Viennaeagle

Inspiring

Mine was still doing it on 15.3.1

KR Seals

Community Expert

What kind of Volume it Hyperdark? Is that some thing new where you have located your catalog?

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

M

malacca73

Participating Frequently

I just downgraded to 15.2 and was able to get some work done, so then I upgraded again to 15.3.1 and immediately experienced the problem. Ridiculous!

Here is my system info, for what little good that does, since the update is obviously what’s causing the problem…

Lightroom Classic version: 15.3.1 [ 202605261338-e36f8566 ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-US
Operating system: Mac OS 26
Version: 26.4.1 [25E253]
Application architecture: arm64
Logical processor count: 20
Processor speed: NA
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Adobe GSDK Version: 1.4.0.213

Built-in memory: 65,536.0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 783.2MB / 53,084.1MB (1%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 65,536.0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 1,194.3 MB (1.8%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 442,589.7 MB
Memory cache size: 47.5MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 18.3 [ 2530 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 16MB / 32767MB (0%)
Camera Raw real memory: 18MB / 65536MB (0%)

Cache1:
NT- RAM:0.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, Combined:0.0MB

Cache2:
m:47.5MB, n:0.0MB

U-main: 112.0MB

Standard Preview Size: 6400 pixels
Displays: 1) 6400x3600, 2) 5120x2880

Graphics Processor Info:
Metal: Apple M1 Ultra
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: OFF
GPU for Preview Generation: Auto (S5_51)

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Volumes/Hyperdark/20260604-1-808SolitudePt/808 Solitude Point/808 Solitude Point.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/mandl/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
3) DxO PhotoLab 9
4) DxO PhotoLab 9 Importer
5) DxO PureRAW 3
6) DxO PureRAW 3 Importer
7) Export to Photomatix Pro
8) Flickr
9) LR/Enfuse
10) Luminar AI
11) Luminar Neo
12) Macphun Creative Kit
13) Nik 9 HDR Efex
14) Noiseless CK
15) ON1 HDR Standalone 2021
16) ON1 NoNoise AI Standalone 2021
17) ON1 Photo RAW 2026
18) Plugin Parameters
19) Plugin Parameters
20) Topaz Photo (Studio)
21) Topaz Photo AI

Config.lua flags:

A

AxelMatt

Community Expert

@Alefa974 @malacca73 As @nik.m mentioned please share your system info with us.

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

Alefa974Author

Participant

Hi, here my info :

Version Lightroom Classic: 15.3.1 [ 202605261338-e36f8566 ]
Licence: Creative Cloud
Paramètre de langue: fr-FR
Système d'exploitation : Mac OS 26
Version : 26.5.1 [25F80]
Architecture de l'application : arm64
Nombre de processeurs logiques: 10
Vitesse du processeur : NA
Version SQLite: 3.36.0
Version Adobe GSDK: 1.4.0.213

Source d’alimentation: Branché, 100%, En charge
Mémoire intégrée : 16 384,0 Mo
Mémoire GPU dédiée utilisée par Lightroom: 34,3Mo / 12 124,1Mo (0%)
Mémoire réelle disponible pour Lightroom : 16 384,0 Mo
Mémoire réelle utilisée par Lightroom : 604,8 Mo (3,6%)
Mémoire virtuelle utilisée par Lightroom : 426 968,8 Mo
Taille de la mémoire cache : 91,8Mo
Version interne de Camera Raw: 18.3 [ 2530 ]
Nombre maximal de liens utilisé par Camera Raw : 5
Optimisation SIMD de Camera Raw : SSE2
Mémoire virtuelle de Camera Raw: 15Mo / 8191Mo (0%)
Mémoire réelle de Camera Raw: 16Mo / 16384Mo (0%)

Cache1:
NT- RAM:0,0MB, VRAM:0,0MB, Combined:0,0MB

Cache2:
m:91,8Mo, n:0,0Mo

U-main: 123,0Mo

Taille d’aperçu standard: 1440 pixels
Affichages : 1) 1920x1200, 2) 3840x2160

Informations relatives au processeur graphique :
Metal: Apple M1 Pro
État initial: GPU pour l'exportation pris en charge par défaut
Préférence utilisateur: Auto
Activer la HDR dans Bibliothèque: Désactiver
Processeur graphique pour la génération d’aperçu :Auto (S5_11)

Dossier de l'application : /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Chemin d'accès à la bibliothèque : /Users/sami/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom Catalog.lrcat
Dossier des paramètres : /Users/sami/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Modules installés :
1) Adobe Stock
2) Flickr
3) Module externe d'importateur Aperture/iPhoto

Marqueurs Config.lua:

A

AxelMatt

Community Expert

I’m using Windows and been not really familiar with MacOS. But often, if Lightroom is stuck "Loading" or the import folders appear blank, macOS permissions might be blocking the app.

Open Mac System Settings > Privacy & Security
Select Full Disk Access
Ensure Adobe Lightroom Classic is toggled ON.

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI

M

malacca73

Participating Frequently

Also, when I close one of these import windows with the blank tiles, LRC hangs and I have to force-quit it...

M

malacca73

Participating Frequently

Well, I sure jinxed that. I deleted my preferences for about the third time today, and now that doesn’t even fix the problem. So I am totally screwed and cannot edit photos for my photography business. Help!

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