Lightroom Classic 14.4 won't start in Windows 11 Pro

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 12, 2025
5 replies
324 views

I used LR Classic 14.4 yesterday, no problem, now it won't start. I tried uninstalling, reboot, reinstalling and it still won't start. I have the latest version of Win 11 Pro on my PC. Any ideas?

Windows

Correct answer KR Seals

Then I suspect a corrupt catalog. Try your most recent backup. Unzip, then copy that to the LrC folder. Rename your current catalog so LrC doesn't try to load it. You can get LrC to start the unzipped backup by double clicking on it.

D

drtonyb

Legend

@SBGPhoto

In task manager, End Task for all the Adobe Lightroom Classic background tasks.

KR Seals

Correct answer

Community Expert

Then I suspect a corrupt catalog. Try your most recent backup. Unzip, then copy that to the LrC folder. Rename your current catalog so LrC doesn't try to load it. You can get LrC to start the unzipped backup by double clicking on it.

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.

S

SBGPhotoAuthor

Participant

I don't see a lock file in the LRC folder.

S

SBGPhotoAuthor

Participant

I just noticed that after a few tries of getting it to start, this is Task Manager under Background Processes.

KR Seals

Community Expert

Check the Lightroom Classic folder for a ".lock" file. That file is created when LrC starts up to prevent other copies of LrC from running at the same time. If you find it, delete ONLY that file which will be "your catalog name.lock".

The lock file is normally deleted when LrC shuts down, but if it does not shut down normally, like a computer crash, the .lock file is left in place.

The other possibility is a corrupt catalog. If you don't find a .lock file, try a backup 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.

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