Lightroom hangs on generating previews on my M1 Macbook Pro. The only way to fix it is to force quit, restart Lightroom and reset preferences. Then it happens again a few days later. I have switched off GPU preview generation, but it hasn't helped.

Forum|Forum|25 days ago
May 31, 2026
2 replies
50 views

I’m working with lightroom normally, then suddenly previews won’t generate. If I try to import from an SD card, I can’t see any previews, and in normal grid mode or viewing, previews are not available. When I go to quit Lightroom I get the spinning beach ball and after a few minutes I have to force quit Lightroom classic becuase it has hung.

I have turned off GPU assistance, trashed the lock file, and the previews file, reset preferences but this problem keeps coming back.

D

defaulta06katz2zhlgAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks - great suggestions. I have now excluded Lightroom catalogues from the Backblaze backup, and given Lightroom Classic full disk access. I’ll see how it goes.

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @defaulta06katz2zhlg,

Following up to see how things have been going.

Since your original post, we’ve released Lightroom Classic 15.4.1. Could you let us know if you’re still experiencing the same issue after updating?

Also, did either of the following make a difference?

Excluding your Lightroom catalog from Backblaze backup
Granting Lightroom Classic Full Disk Access in macOS

If you’re still seeing the issue on 15.4.1, could you please share:

Your System Info (Help > System Info > Copy & Paste)
A short screen recording showing:
- Previews no longer generating
- The Import window with gray thumbnails (if applicable)
- Lightroom hangs when you try to quit

That will help us better determine/ diagnose the issue.

Best,
Anshul Saini

Arnold-Norway

Inspiring

Where is your catalog folder? Are you running some sync service on that folder?
There may be a problem with your previews folder, Lightroom Catalog-v15-Previews.lrdata. You may try to rename the previews file to something like this; Lightroom Catalog-v15-Previews-x.lrdata. Then restart Lightroom Classic, that will be forced to render new previews. If that is successfull, your current previews may be the problem.

RegardsArnold Hoddevik

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defaulta06katz2zhlgAuthor

Inspiring

My catalogue folder is on my main hard drive. I am running Backblaze on this but have been running that for many years with no issues with Lightroom before. I have tried deleting the previews.lrdata a few times now, but I still get the same bug occurring. I have also tried starting a new catalogue and working with newer images only on that, it might work for a day or two, then I get the no previews bug and the spinning beach ball when I try to quit lightroom.

Arnold-Norway

Inspiring

Even thou you have used Back Blaze for years with no issues, I think you should stop syncing the catalog folder. Copying open files (catalog and previews) is tecknically possible, but the risk of loosing data and file corruption is very high. I have experienced corruting files caused by sync service at several of my customers in Norway.
One more thing you should check, is that Lightroom Classic has Full disc access. Open Mac OS - Settings - Privacy and securety - Full Disc access. If Lightroom Classic is not listed there with Full disc Access, turn Full disc access on/Add Lightroom Classic to Full Disc access. Lightroom Classic will not work properly without Full Disc Access.

RegardsArnold Hoddevik

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