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StafB
StafB
Participant
February 24, 2022
Question

Lightroom catalogus files and back-ups gone

  • February 24, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 504 views

As the title says I lost all my catalog files and the back-ups.

 

So I tried to open my lightroom this morning but it gave me the message it couldn't locate the catalog.

When I went ahead and looked at my files on my SSD I saw that even though the original folder in which the catalog files and the back-ups were placed was still there but everything in the folder is gone. 

 

And now when I open the folder it shows a lot of new files that I have no idea what they are for (these files show when lightroom is closed).

 

I have no idea what could have caused the files to disappear no other files were lost from the disk and all the photos are still there. The disk was also safely removed and Lightroom was closed normally the day before.

 

Is there any way I could recover the files or solve the problem?

 

Currently on macOS Monterey, Lightroom version 11.2

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
February 24, 2022

Using your operating system's search feature, search all hard disk(s) for files whose name contains .LRCAT

StafB
StafBAuthor
Participant
February 24, 2022

I tried to do this but the only thing it shows is another catalog then the one I'm missing

and  .LRCAT-wal  and  .LRCAT-shm files.

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 24, 2022

It does indeed look like your original catalog is somehow disrupted. You need to look for a backup catalog. As these are zipped, you won't find them by searching for .lrcat files, but must search for .zip files. Do you use Apple Time Machine for general backups? If so, you could also use that to restore the catalog.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
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