Lightroom Classic Photos all Grey and lightroom backup not loading.

Second attempt at this reply. First one was just so so wrong.

Ah, actually third attempt.

In that first screenshot, I notice in the background that you appear to be attempting to load a backup of your catalog. From the compressed folder. That is probably your problem.

Copy that folder to wherever you want it, other than the backup folder. Then uncompress it. Then attempt to load the uncompressed .lrcat file.

I suspect you attempted something like as follows in this video:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/syc7hvib8h45dh4c5z5gh/2024-08-22-15-37-05.mp4?rlkey=igkauzfy35txjniikmup996uv&st=olsso5x9&dl=0

P.S. Do not emulate placing backup in the same drive as working copy's. What you see in my video is just a quick what if I created. As such the backup was not exactly placed in a good location.

The first error message says that the Lightroom Catalog-v13-4-2.lrcat-data folder is missing.

Maybe you accidentally moved it, so do a search for it in the File explorer.

If you find it, move it to the folder that contains the catalog, usually a folder named "Lightroom" or "Lightroom catalog" inside the Pictures folder.

Another option is to restore a recent catalog backup.

Backups are zipped, and you have to unzip it to a location of your choice.

Then double-click the catalog file (which has the extension .LRCAT) to launch LrC.

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

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