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Kirrrrrri
Participating Frequently
June 18, 2026
Question

Incorrect image displayed in Loupe View during initial preview fetching

  • June 18, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

There is a recurring issue where the Loupe view displays an entirely incorrect image immediately following a folder import. Specifically, if a user enters the Loupe view before the initial preview fetching is complete, the view will load a cached image from a previous session - even if that image belongs to a folder that has already been removed from the catalog.

While toggling between images can sometimes force the view to refresh, the incorrect preview sometimes gets “stuck”. This allows the user to browse the gallery in Loupe view and randomly see photos from long-gone folders, despite the thumbnails in the filmstrip displaying correctly.

 

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Prepare two folders containing a large number of high-resolution photos (to ensure preview generation takes a noticeable amount of time).
  2. Import the first folder into Lightroom Classic.
  3. Select any photo and press Spacebar to open it in Loupe view.
  4. Press G to return to the Grid view.
  5. Remove the first folder and its images from the Lightroom catalog.
  6. Import the second folder.
  7. Press Spacebar to enter the Loupe view while the new previews are actively being generated.

Actual Result

The previously opened image from Step 3 (which has been removed from the catalog) is displayed in the Loupe view instead of the newly imported photo. Navigating to the next picture and back does not consistently resolve the issue, resulting in a "stuck" ghost image.

See attached screen recording.

Expected Result

While preview fetching is actively happening, the Loupe view should display a blurred or low-resolution version of the correct newly imported image, but under no circumstances should it display a completely different photograph.

 

Environment

Version: Lightroom Classic 15.0 and newer (issue is not present in v14.x or older).

Operating System: macOS 26.x (observed on both Apple Silicon and Intel devices, though "stuck" behavior is more prevalent on Intel).

1 reply

Srishti Bali
Community Manager
Srishti BaliCommunity Manager
Community Manager
June 18, 2026

Hi ​@Kirrrrrri 

 

Thanks for such a detailed report! The repro steps, version info, and screen recording are really helpful.

To help narrow this down, could you try a few checks:

  • Confirm if this happens with all files or only specific images
  • Check whether the behavior persists after restarting the app
  • Try viewing the same files from a different location (local drive vs external/network)

Looking forward to your response!

Thanks, Srishti Bali | Community & Engagement Strategist, Digital Imaging | Adobe
K
KirrrrrriAuthor
Participating Frequently
June 18, 2026

Thanks for the prompt reply ​@Srishti Bali! Here is the additional information:

  • File Types: The issue occurs consistently with all JPEG files.

  • Persistence: Restarting the application does clear the glitch. However, it isn't always obvious that a restart is needed, as you often don't notice the preview is "stuck" until much later in your viewing session.

  • Storage: We are exclusively using local internal drives. We've also confirmed that this is happening on multiple computers across different studio locations in various cities, so it’s not isolated to one computer’s storage.

  • Preview Build Method: As a very important side note, this bug seems isolated entirely to the Embedded & Sidecar preview build method (the default one). If we select any other preview option during import, everything works perfectly.

Context: To give you an idea of how we caught this: we operate multiple photo studios, and since upgrading to v15+, several of our photographers have reported a rather awkward situation. While doing live photo viewings with a current client, a photo of a previous client will randomly pop up on the screen, even though the previous client's folder was already completely removed from Lightroom.

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