I often find that Lightroom Classic sync to the Adobe Cloud gets stuck uploading images.Removing the offending images and from sync and all synced images usually clears the issue, however I can repeat the issue.Add some previously un-synced images (mine are usually new imports) to a collection and let them sync - wait for the icon to stop spinning and turn green. Remove some of the images from the collection Then immediately add some of those removed back into the collectionThe added images just added back in to the collection just sit in an 'uploading' state. I have left them trying for hours.I have observed on occasion that LrC will remove the newly added images from the local collectionI occasionally make a mistake and change my mind about images I've removed from collections so add them back.I have done the above steps several times now and find the results consistent.

Inspiring

Question

Lightroom Classic Sync gets stuck uploading files

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
June 17, 2026
20 replies
322 views

I often find that Lightroom Classic sync to the Adobe Cloud gets stuck uploading images.

Removing the offending images and from sync and all synced images usually clears the issue, however I can repeat the issue.

Add some previously un-synced images (mine are usually new imports) to a collection and let them sync - wait for the icon to stop spinning and turn green.
Remove some of the images from the collection
Then immediately add some of those removed back into the collection

The added images just added back in to the collection just sit in an 'uploading' state. I have left them trying for hours.

I have observed on occasion that LrC will remove the newly added images from the local collection

I occasionally make a mistake and change my mind about images I've removed from collections so add them back.

I have done the above steps several times now and find the results consistent.

cloud sync

R

raulc38963576

Participant

@Anshul_Saini

I am seeing what appears to be the same or a closely related Lightroom Classic sync problem, and it persists in Lightroom Classic 15.5.1.

I am a longtime Lightroom Classic user. For years I synchronized several thousand photos from Classic so that they were available in Lightroom on my iPhone and on the web. A few months ago this became unreliable and eventually essentially stopped working.

Current symptoms

Photos added to synced collections frequently fail to upload.
In Preferences > Lightroom Sync, affected photos often appear simply as “Image” and “Uploading”, without a useful explanation of the error.
Photos that fail to sync do not appear on Lightroom Web/mobile.
Removing affected photos from sync and adding them again often causes them to reappear in Sync Errors almost immediately.
Restarting Lightroom Classic sometimes changes the number of sync errors slightly, but does not resolve the underlying problem.

Troubleshooting already performed

I have spent considerable time trying to isolate the problem, including:

stopping and restarting sync
removing and re-adding affected photos to synchronization
rebuilding/deleting the local sync data
optimizing the Lightroom catalog
deleting all synchronized Lightroom cloud data and starting synchronization again from a clean cloud state
testing with small new collections rather than my original large synchronized collection

After the cloud reset, for example, I synchronized a test group of 11 photos. Nine synchronized successfully and two produced sync errors. I then tested a collection of approximately 45 photos that had previously synchronized normally; approximately 14 produced sync errors.

Restarting Lightroom Classic sometimes reduces the error count by one, but the errors subsequently return. The behavior therefore does not appear to be caused by one corrupt image or one specific collection.

The catalog and photographs themselves otherwise work normally in Lightroom Classic.

This looks to me like Lightroom Classic's local/cloud synchronization state is becoming inconsistent. It also seems similar to the synchronization-state problem discussed earlier in this thread, although I can reproduce the problem without rapidly removing and re-adding photographs.

I am currently using Lightroom Classic 15.5.1 on macOS.

Given the amount of troubleshooting already performed, I would particularly like to know whether Adobe considers this an open Lightroom Classic sync bug and whether the engineering team is still investigating it.

Thank you.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @raulc38963576,

Thanks for adding the detailed reproduction information here. I have the diagnostic report you sent me privately earlier.

I’ve connected that report with the additional details you’ve provided here. In particular, it’s useful that the issue persists after rebuilding the local sync data and completely resetting the Lightroom cloud data, and that you’re able to reproduce sync failures with newly created test collections without the rapid remove/re-add workflow discussed earlier in this thread.

That suggests your case should be investigated separately rather than assuming it’s the same race condition previously discussed here.

I’ll take the diagnostic information and reproduction details forward for further investigation. If the team needs a specific additional test or diagnostic from your system, I’ll follow up here.

Thanks for documenting this so thoroughly.

Best,
Anshul Saini

F

Federico5C86

Participant

Hi, have you found any solutions to this?

I’m in the same scenario in terms of images stuck syncing, although my cause is different: I got a new computer and I’m in the process of syncing all my photos from the cloud down to LrC, to regain storage space in the cloud. The plan is to take the photos synced down out of ‘All synced photographs’, then put them back in order to upload only the smart previews. For any photos in which I’ve tried this, the sync process gets stuck at uploading.

If I’m importing brand new images into the catalog and into ‘All synced photographs’, putting them into a collection or not, the syncing behaves as it should.

I’m really at a loss here and will appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance!

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

Hi

As I mentioned previously, I would describe syncing from my catalog as generally stable so long as I allow each instruction to process fully before doing something else. It seems to be when I change my mind it breaks.

The reply from @Anshul_Saini confirmed that

”After investigating, the product team believes the behavior is related to how Lightroom Classic processes cloud sync operations asynchronously.

In the workflow you described, removing photos from a synced collection and then immediately adding some of the same photos back, the remove and add operations can overlap before the previous sync operation has fully completed. This can cause the sync state to become inconsistent, which is why you’re seeing the images stuck in the upload state.

At the moment, the recommendation is to allow the removal operation to finish syncing completely before re-adding the same images to the collection. Waiting a short while between those operations should help avoid this condition.”

I now just allow one set of syncing to finish before doing the next, especially if I change my mind about images added or removed from a Collection.

F

Federico5C86

Participant

Hi @iwaddo, thanks for the quick reply!

I had read the full thread before asking as it seemed it only got to the point of you finding a workaround without the issue resolving fully. It seems that's still the case 😅

I am doing my work in batches precisely to avoid any overlapping but still get the same result. Hope it doesn't cause any more issues for yourself!

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

@Anshul_Saini

Hi, where did you go? It is a week now since I last heard from you.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @iwaddo,

First, I’m sorry for the delayed response, and thank you for your patience. I just wanted to check if you've updated to 15.4.1 yet. If you have, could you please generate a new log after updating? That way, we can see if the issue persists even after the update.

Regarding the diagnostic report, yes, rather than attaching it publicly to the thread, I’d prefer that you send it to me via DM.

Please upload the diagnostic report to Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, or a similar file-sharing service, then send me the download link in a private message (click my profile and select Send Message).

That will allow me to share them with the product team privately for further investigation.

Thanks again for taking the time to reproduce the issue so consistently and generate the diagnostic report. I appreciate your help in tracking this down.

Best,
Anshul Saini

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

Hi, I’ve DM the link. Thank you for your help.

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

.

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

@Anshul_Saini

Hi, I have done all the above and the same three files remain stuck.

The images are not in the Collection as they were removed by LrC after I added them. (It is as though the original remove from collection instruction was applied again).

The images are not in All Synced photographs, presumably because they were removed.

They are not showing in Lightroom Web.

Also, oddly I added 6 images back in to the collection, 5 were subsequently removed by LrC and only three are stuck uploading.

I have generated the Diagnostic Report. What does it contain, is it safe attached to this thread?

This catalog has been synced forever, I have only ever had one catalog.

Yes I have a number of third-party plug-ins.

Finally, I would describe syncing from my catalog as generally stable so long as I allow each instruction to process fully before doing something else. It seems to be when I change my mind it breaks.

Thank you for your help.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @iwaddo,

Thanks for the detailed repro steps. That’s very helpful. We actually rolled out Lightroom Classic 15.4 today. Could you please update to 15.4 and test the same workflow again?

Please let us know if you’re still able to reproduce the issue in 15.4.

If it persists after the update, I’ll gather additional information from your end and forward it to the product team for further investigation.

Thanks for documenting the steps so clearly.

Best,
Anshul Saini

iwaddoAuthor

Inspiring

@Anshul_Saini

Hi, I have upgraded to 15.4.

To start I had to right-click and remove each of the stuck images from my previous attempt.

I added 55 images to a new empty collection which sync’d quickly, the icon went green. I removed 47 of the images from the collection, paused then add 6 of the 47 back in to the collection.

Within a few moments 5 of the 6 had been removed from the collection and the one remaining is stuck uploading though in preferences it says 3 are uploading.

It is noticeable that the 3 stuck uploading do not have normal locations and filenames, they are as below and if I right-click the pop-up says ‘Remove from Cloud’.

It seems as though the sync process is easily confused.

Please let me know if I can help further

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

@iwaddo, thanks for confirming that. I understand how exhausting sync issues can be. Let’s go through a few structured checks to narrow this down.

• Sign out of Lightroom Classic, quit the app, relaunch it, and sign back in. After signing back in, let sync run for a few minutes and see if the same photos remain stuck.

• Check Lightroom Web. Sign in at https://adobe.ly/49uUY7n
– Look for the same photos that are stuck in Classic
– Clear the Deleted folder, remove any photos inside it from the web interface

• Inspect problematic photos
In Lightroom Classic, go to All Synced Photographs and identify the images that won’t sync.
Try selecting one affected photo, then changing Metadata > Edit Capture Time to anything, e.g., 12:00:00 PM.
This often forces Lightroom to re-evaluate metadata and can unblock stuck sync items.

If none of the above helps:
– Go to Preferences > Lightroom Sync
– Hold down the Alt key
– Click Generate Diagnostic Report

Also, please confirm whether you are currently using or have used any third-party plugins, and whether this catalog has been synced continuously for a long time, or if the sync was re-enabled later.

We’ll take this step by step and work toward stabilizing your sync.

Best regards,
Anshul Saini

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