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precise_Lionheart4790
Participant
September 22, 2026
Question

Lightroom Classic closes immediately on launch on macOS 27.0

  • September 22, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 36 views

Description of Issue
Lightroom Classic closes immediately during startup before showing the catalog or main window. The same behavior occurs after reinstalling the application, testing Lightroom Classic 15.5.1 and 15.5, trying Open in Rosetta, and resetting Lightroom Classic preferences. Photoshop and Lightroom (cloud) launch normally on the same Mac.

Lightroom Classic Version Number
15.5.1 (also reproduced on 15.5; Creative Cloud installation)

OS Version Number
macOS 27.0 (build 26A428), Apple Silicon arm64, Mac model identifier Mac17,4

Step-by-step Reproduction Instructions
1. Install Lightroom Classic from the Creative Cloud desktop app.
2. Launch Lightroom Classic from Creative Cloud or Finder.
3. The application starts briefly and then closes before displaying the catalog or main window.
4. The same result occurs after reinstalling, resetting preferences, and choosing Open in Rosetta.

The Expected Result
Lightroom Classic should remain open and display the catalog selection or main application window.

The Actual Result
The application exits immediately. macOS generates a crash report with EXC_CRASH/SIGABRT (Abort trap: 6). The latest report shows the crash during startup in the main thread while background startup code is fetching product/version preferences.

Troubleshooting already completed
- macOS is fully updated.
- Lightroom Classic reinstalled from Creative Cloud.
- Lightroom Classic 15.5.1 tested.
- Lightroom Classic 15.5 tested.
- Open in Rosetta tested.
- Preferences reset; the active preference plist is no longer present in ~/Library/Preferences.
- Photoshop and Lightroom cloud app tested and open normally.

    3 replies

    precise_Lionheart4790Author
    Participant
    September 23, 2026

    I completed the isolation test with the Option key held while launching Lightroom Classic. The catalog selection dialog appeared, and I created a new temporary catalog named “prueba”. Lightroom Classic remains open and the interface works normally with this new catalog. Therefore, the crash occurs when opening the existing catalog, not during general application startup. This suggests the issue is related to the existing catalog or an associated catalog service.

    precise_Lionheart4790Author
    Participant
    September 23, 2026

    Thanks for the follow-up. Lightroom Classic had been working correctly on this Mac before the upgrade to macOS 27.0. The startup crash began after upgrading to macOS 27.0.

    I have now also updated Lightroom Classic to 15.5.1 from Creative Cloud. It still launches briefly and then closes while opening the existing catalog.

    I am attaching the complete macOS crash report from one of the failed launches as a ZIP file.

    I will also perform the Option-launch isolation test with a new temporary catalog and report the result separately.

    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 22, 2026

    Hi @precise_Lionheart4790,

    Thanks for the exceptionally detailed report and for including the crash information and troubleshooting you’ve already completed.

    The Lightroom Classic team is investigating a related startup crash on Apple Silicon involving an unhandled exception that results in the same pattern. Your report is particularly useful because the failure appears consistently during startup, and you’ve reproduced it with both Lightroom Classic 15.5 and 15.5.1.

    Since you’ve already reinstalled Lightroom Classic, reset preferences, tested Rosetta, and tested the previous version, there’s no need to repeat those steps.

    Could you please attach the complete macOS crash report from one of the failed launches? If possible, also let us know whether Lightroom Classic had previously launched successfully on this Mac with macOS 27.0, or whether the problem started immediately after upgrading to macOS 27.

    I’d also like you to try one isolation test: hold Option while launching Lightroom Classic to bring up the catalog selection dialog, then create a new temporary catalog. Please let us know whether Lightroom still exists before the catalog dialog appears, or whether it can remain open with the new catalog.

    That comparison will help determine whether the failure occurs during Lightroom’s application initialization or when the existing catalog and its associated services are initialized.

    Best,
    Anshul Saini

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