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lowellnelson
lowellnelson
Inspiring
August 1, 2026
Question

Lightroom Classic v 15.4 fails to perform backups

  • August 1, 2026
  • 5 replies
  • 16 views

Lightroom Classic v 15.4 backup attempt results in progress reporter showing “Checking catalog integrity → Copying catalog → Compressing catalog backup,” then reports “Lightroom was unable to back up the catalog named “Lr6 Catalog-v15-4”.  Please check your folder permissions, and make sure that you have available space on your backup drive and main catalog’s drive.”

Lightroom has full disc access and backup folder is specifically set to “read & write” for all users.  The backup generator writes a folder named for the backup date into the Lightroom “Backups” folder, but that dated folder remains empty.

System specs:  iMac Pro (2017) OS Sequoia 15.7.7, with Mac SSD 2 TB with 790 GB available (far more than the size of a catalog).  Chosing a different folder at parent level produces same result.  Restarting Lightroom produces same result.  Restarting iMac and Lightroom produces same result.  Lightroom restarts and functions (for now), but I am unable to back up my catalog.

 

Thanks for any help.

Lowell Nelson

      5 replies

      Jason Miller234
      Jason Miller234
      Participating Frequently
      August 2, 2026

      Try File > Optimize Catalog first. If it still fails, test backing up a new empty catalog to see if the issue is with the catalog or Lightroom itself.

      JohanElzenga
      Community Expert
      JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 1, 2026

      This problem has been reported here many times. It is caused by catalog corruption. You can usually fix this as follows: Create a brand new catalog (‘File - New Catalog’) and choose 'File - Import from Another Catalog'. Select your old catalog to import. In the import dialog choose to import all photos, but do not move them. This will create an exact copy of your old catalog, but without the corruption. The only thing that won't come across is any publishing services you may have. You will have to recreate those. If you synced your catalog then you will have to enable sync for the new catalog. There are some reports that this could cause a problem. Here’s how to solve that: 

      https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/2025/1/lr026-fixing-sync-problems-caused-by-switching-the-sync-catalog

      -- Johan W. Elzenga
      lowellnelson
      lowellnelsonAuthor
      Inspiring
      August 1, 2026

      Sorry, Johan, if I missed previous solutions.  None were presented that matched my query.

      However, when I try to import from the old catalog, I am informed that the import cannot be completed because of an “unknown error.”

      lowellnelson
      lowellnelsonAuthor
      Inspiring
      August 2, 2026

      This is also a rather strange catalog corruption.  The catalog functions normally while LR is running, it survives integrity checks, and it allows itself to be copied to a backup, but causes failure when the backup is zipped?

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