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Joseph25178487ieib
Participant
July 8, 2022
Question

Lost Folder HELP PLEASE

  • July 8, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 111 views
HELP PLEASE!
I have been using an external HD to store my photos. I decided I needed to back them up better and copied them to a NAS drive outside LR. I then went into LR Classic and there are folders that are no longer listed in LR library module and some that had no content. I was able to find the photos and bring them back into LR in the folders that were present but had no content. I have one folder labeled "zoo" that is present on both my external HD and NAS drive but the folder is not listed at all in the LR library module. The photos were not lost, thankfully, but I did lots of edits etc and am worried if I just create a new folder in LR titled "zoo" and import them I will loose all of my edits. I do have recent LR backups which may save me but I'm not sure of how to move forward. Lesson learned...do everything in LR! Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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2 replies

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
July 8, 2022

I then went into LR Classic and there are folders that are no longer listed in LR library module and some that had no content.

 

This sounds like you (accidentally) opened the wrong catalog file. Moving the folders outside of Lightroom Classic will not cause this to happen to LrC. Please try the LrC menu command File->Open Recent and open each catalog listed there to see if you can find one with the folders of interest.

 

Another possible cause of this is that LrC does not think the photos are in folder "Zoo", it thinks the photos are somewhere else (even though YOU think they are in folder "Zoo"). Please try ALL FOUR of these steps in order and report the results.

 

1. In the Lightroom Classic Library Module, on the left, under Catalog, click on All Photographs
2. Turn off all filters (Ctrl-L once or twice)
3. Turn off all stacking (Photo->Stacking->Expand All Stacks)
4. Search for at least one of these photos by file name using the Lightroom Classic Filter Bar

 

Lesson learned...do everything in LR!

 

Exactly the wrong lesson. Whatever happened to folder "Zoo" in Lightroom Classic was not caused by you moving the photos outside of LrC. Furthermore, Lightroom Classic does not make backups of your photos, you HAVE TO do this outside of LrC. And if you do want to move a folder that is in LrC to some other disk, you should do it outside of LrC and then re-connect ... if you do it properly, there is no problem at all.

J
Joseph25178487ieibAuthor
Participant
July 9, 2022

Hi

Thanks for your advice but nothing solved my problem.  I searched each catalog and the one I was using was the correct one but the folder is still missing.  I also went step by step with your 4 suggestions and also I still can't find the missing folders.

Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.  As I mentioned, the photos are safe and in the properly labeled folders on my external HD and NAS drive.  I just can't locate a the correct folders in LR to look for the files.  I can create a folder and then import the photos again but will I loose all of my edits?  Can the edits be restored if I do that?  Any other possible solutions?

 

Many thanks

 

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
July 9, 2022

I also went step by step with your 4 suggestions and also I still can't find the missing folders.

 

The four step process doesn't look for a folder. It searches through your LrC catalog for one of the photos (by filename) that you think is in this missing folder. Did you find the photo?

 

Importing will cause Lightroom Classic to think the photo is brand new with no edits and no user-provided meta-data.

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 8, 2022

Hi @Joseph25178487ieib 

Since your question is about Lightroom Classic, I have moved this from the Photoshop forum where you posted.

~ Jane

 

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