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Answered

Lightroom 15.3, Cannot Import

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
May 4, 2026
12 replies
314 views

After the recent update to Lightroom 15.3, I am unable to import photos. No previews are generated and when I try to import any files, the import process hangs and I have to force-quit. I am using a brand-new MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip and 24 GB RAM on Tahoe 26.4.1. I am importing from a CFEXPRESS card via a reader that I’ve used for 2 years. The photos are from a Nikon Z8, both NEF (raw) and JPEGs.

I have turned off the GPU acceleration, turned off “Ignore Suspected Duplicates”, deleted the preview cache, and uninstalled and reinstalled Lightroom and it still will not generate previews or complete the import process. Additionally, when I try to quit Lightroom Classic, the quitting process hangs and I get the pinwheel of death and have to force-quit.

Where can I go to find an answer to this problem?

Correct answer skymakai

Same! I just had to go back to Lightroom Classic 15.2.1.

Version 15.3.1 was unusable!

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @curious777 @skymakai @malacca73 @txwookiee @mollyashlie @Lukasz26923131pld2 , and everyone following this thread,

Following up on this issue, since the 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 experiencing the same behavior?

If the issue persists after updating, it would also be helpful if you could temporarily roll back to 15.2.1 and confirm whether the problem goes away, as several users previously reported.

Knowing whether 15.4.1 still exhibits the issue, and 15.2.1 works correctly, will help us determine whether this is a regression introduced in later versions and provide the product team with valuable comparison data.

Thanks for your patience, and we look forward to your updates.

Best,
Anshul Saini

L

Lukasz26923131pld2

Participant

It’s unbelievable that this problem hasn’t been fixed in all this time! We’re paying a lot for a programme that’s unusable. I’ve been using Lightroom for years, but I’ve had enough of it now. Get your act together, Adobe!

M

malacca73

Participating Frequently

Anyone figure this out other than downgrading? I’m getting my A7R VI tomorrow, so if I downgrade I won’t be able to view the raw images from it with 15.2

I

Iso-Tuisku Oy

Participant

Lightroom Classic 15.3.1 on macOS: catalog hangs, import previews not generated, shutdown hangs

Hello,

I am experiencing serious issues with Lightroom Classic 15.3.1 on macOS.

System / setup:

Lightroom Classic version: 15.3.1
macOS: Versio 26.5.1
Mac model: Apple M1 Max
Camera/files: Canon RAW files from memory card

Problem summary:
Lightroom Classic has become unreliable after the recent 15.3.1 update. The catalog may hang on opening or during shutdown, and importing new photos from a memory card no longer works correctly.

What happens:

Lightroom Classic opens, but often becomes unresponsive with the spinning beach ball.
During shutdown, Lightroom can remain stuck for hours.
I removed the temporary catalog files:
- .lrcat.lock
- .lrcat-wal
- .lrcat-shm
  This improved the situation slightly, but did not solve it.
Lightroom reached the Library/Import view, but when importing from a memory card, the thumbnails/previews are not generated.
In the Import window, the file names are visible, but the image thumbnails remain grey/blank.
Lightroom may hang again during import or shutdown.
The same memory card and files are visible in Finder.

Troubleshooting already tried:

Force Quit Lightroom Classic
Restarted the Mac
Removed .lrcat.lock, .lrcat-wal, and .lrcat-shm files while Lightroom was fully closed
Tested startup with catalog selection enabled instead of automatically loading the most recent catalog
Tested a new/empty catalog
Changed startup preference to “Prompt me when starting Lightroom”
Checked that the memory card is visible in Finder

Expected behavior:
Lightroom should open the catalog normally, generate thumbnails in the Import window, import the RAW files, and shut down normally.

Actual behavior:
Lightroom hangs with the spinning beach ball, import previews are not generated, and shutdown can remain stuck for hours.

This looks similar to other reports about Lightroom Classic 15.3 / 15.3.1 on macOS where previews are not generated and import or shutdown hangs.

Is this a known issue in Lightroom Classic 15.3.1?
Is there a recommended workaround, or should I downgrade to 15.2.1 until this is fixed?

Thank you.

I use Lightroom professionally, so this is currently blocking client work.

I

Iso-Tuisku Oy

Participant

Update:

The issue is now resolved after downgrading Lightroom Classic back to version 15.2.1.

With Lightroom Classic 15.3.1, I experienced serious problems on macOS: the catalog would hang during startup/shutdown, the spinning beach ball appeared repeatedly, and the Import window did not generate previews from the memory card. After reverting to 15.2.1, Lightroom works normally again.

This caused me to lose approximately one full working day. I have never experienced this kind of problem with Lightroom Classic before.

Please fix this issue as soon as possible, as Lightroom Classic 15.3.1 appears to be unreliable in this situation and can seriously disrupt professional work.

S

skymakaiCorrect answer

Participant

Same! I just had to go back to Lightroom Classic 15.2.1.

Version 15.3.1 was unusable!

Magahy

Participant

I have found a solution after tearing my hair out with greyed out thumbnails and Force quitting heaps of times. My catalog is large so I thought, make a new empty catalog, crashed again, vented to Adobe. This used to happen in 1995, I have the scars!!

Lo and behold, sufferers. The new empty catalog appears on 21st relaunch of the morning. Gingerly I selected my test folder with only 5 images from yesterday’s 750 football (soccer) shoot. Magic, it worked. So being brave, or stupid, I crossed my fingers and tried the 188 keeper folder that I painfully made in Bridge last evening.Yeah, it’s in.

So do the Preference reset, I did the Cache rebuild but since you are now going to try the new catalog you should be able to skip this step, and good luck.

Rikk Flohr_Photography

Greetings,

I’ve been watching this thread and trying to reproduce the issue with no success. My three Macs have no issues importing.

It would be helpful in vetting this issue if those ‘me-too’s’ on the thread could provide some additional information.

Have you reset Lightroom Preferences since the problem started?
Have you attempted a clean reinstall of the application?
How are you importing, built-it card reader, direct camera connect, external card reader, or other?
Does this happen every import or just some?
Is your macOS up-to-date?

Finally, does anyone have a video of the behavior they could post for the experts to review?

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org

S

skymakai

Participant

Yes, reset preferences and even reinstalled. Caches reset, etc.

Photos are copied to a drive before importing. Tried copying to various drives and importing from there (including main drive) with no change.

Only happens with some imports… it’s not that they’re JPG files, because the thumbnail doesn’t even load, and I’ve tried different settings regarding RAW+JPG files.

MacOS is up to date with all fixes at 15.7.7 (The previous MacOS version)… which could mean I need to stay on a version of LR Classic meant for MacOS 15.

I reverted to LR Classic 15.2.1 and everything works again. I can import a folder of JPG files which I could not import on 15.3.1

curious777

Participating Frequently

Same exact issue here. Its showing a contact loading status on some photos within galleries. I am also unable to import right now at all.

Sebastian Belaunzaran

Participant

Same issue here
also I can’t use Noise reduction

dj_paige

Legend

Same issue here
also I can’t use Noise reduction

This is not the same issue, this thread is about users who cannot import. Please start a new thread and explain your problem in detail. People will be happy to help you in the new thread. @Sebastian Belaunzaran do not continue to discuss your problem in this thread.

mollyashlie

Participant

I’ve been having the same problem! It just started randomly one day, I was using an older Macbook to be fair but it still had 24 gigs of ram and had been previously running just fine. I even went and bought a new iMac just because I thought it was a problem with my old computer. But nope, brand new 32gig computer later and it still won’t import anything. Just gets stuck on the import screen with nothing loaded.

I do in person same day reveals with my clients and this has severely impacted my workflow! 0/10 Adobe please fix this!

L

Lukasz26923131pld2

Participant

I’ve been having the same problems recently. We’re paying for a product that’s unusable.

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