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Phil23133171w3bj
Known Participant
May 6, 2023
Question

Lightroom Library Filter - Not all metadata being shown

  • May 6, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 5863 views

Greetings, I'm using the "Library Filter" to filter my images by metadata (default columns enabled) and it's showing all the metadata associated with my library.

 

2 examples:

 

  • I have images in my library from 2017 & 2018 yet those years don't appear in the "Date" column
  • I have images taken with iPhones and a Nikon DSLR yet those cameras don't appear in the "Camera" column

 

I have "All Photographs" selected in the Catalog and I've restarted the program a couple times.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

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2 replies

johnrellis
johnrellis
Legend
May 6, 2023

If Richard's reply doesn't help, please post a full-resolution screenshot (not a phone pic) of the entire LR window, so we're seeing exactly what you're seeing.

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Phil23133171w3bjAuthor
Known Participant
May 6, 2023

Hi both, thank you for commenting. Attached is a screen shot. Richard, I know what you're talking about and you'll see the screen shot shows I've not added any filters to the library.

 

Any thoughts are welcome! Thank you

johnrellis
johnrellis
Legend
May 6, 2023

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

 

The screenshot does suggest LR is confused. Some troubleshooting steps:

 

1. With All Photographs selected, the Library Filter configured as shown in your screenshot (with no filters enabled), open the filmstrip and verify that the count shown in the filmstrip matches All Photographs.  

 

2. Triple-check that the catalog actually contains 2017/2018 photos and Iphones and Nikon DSLR photos, and that the Metadata panel shows the Capture Date field containing years 2017 or 2018 and the EXIF Make and Model fields contain correct values. 

 

3. Click the Filter bar's preset men (where it says No Filter) and select Restore Default Presets at the bottom.  Rarely, LR has been known to corrupt its internal definitions of the built-in filters (including No Filter), and Restore Default Presets can clear that up. It won't affect any presets you've defined.

 

4. Do Catalog Settings > General > Show, which will open Finder on the current catalog folder. Exit LR. In that folder, delete the file "<catalog> Helper.lrdata" being very careful not to delete anything else. That file caches metadata information, and LR will rebuild it when you restart.

 

5. Try resetting LR's preferences:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/


LR sometimes soils its preferences file, and resetting it can fix all sorts of wonky behavior. That article explains how to restore the old preferences if resetting doesn't help.

 

R
Community Expert
richardplondonCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 6, 2023

Just in case it's unclear: once you've filtered down using one metadata column, what is shown in the other metadata columns reduces accordingly.

 

For example: say no imported photos were taken with a particular camera during 2017. That year will dynamically disappear from the Date column, while you are filtering down to that camera only. Conversely: once you were filtering to show the year 2017 only, that camera would dynamically disappear from the Camera Model column.

 

Metadata columns effectively present "whatever's selectively left" after other filtering has happened.

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