Known Participant

Question

LR Classic Sync problems

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
August 29, 2025
3 replies
480 views

I have read almost every post here on LR Classic Sync Issues - I have held down the option ket and attempted to rebuild the sync database but I cannot control how and when LR Classic syncs. Yesterday I set up a new folder and loaded 40 images. It synced fine. Today I set up a new folder and put an image in there and nothing happens. If I click the cloud symbol it has a check mark to say it synced. I see no sync activity listed, and online it has created the collection, but the image I put in the collection is missing. I have tried unchecking and rechecking sync with lightroom but nothing happens. I have wasted SOOO much time trying to get this to work reliably.

Help!

LR Classic 14.5.1

MacOS 15.6.1

macOS

Srishti_Bali

Legend

Hi @ChrisPhotoClimb

Sorry for the delayed response. I agree with all the helpful suggestions shared by Kyla, and Kyla, I’m sorry to hear about your experience too. Sync issues in Lightroom Classic can involve multiple factors, and we do have a detailed article that explains how sync works here: https://adobe.ly/4gAG3LX;

I’d love to know if the steps shared above helped resolve the issue for you. Also, I’m sure you may have already tried this, but sometimes a simple sign-out/sign-in to the Creative Cloud app, or even switching networks, can help clear up these sync hiccups.

We’re here to help, so please let us know how things are going!

Regards,

Srishti

C

ChrisPhotoClimbAuthor

Known Participant

Things did resolve.

I have to say that performance is spotty. IT is often the case that if I am working on a group of images that group gets synced quite quickly, but then it is not unusual to have a smaller number that are just sitting - when I try and close LR after my work it does warn me about this. But they can sit there for a long time >1hr before they eventually sync.

It is more than a nuisance because if I have to leave my office and leave LRC open on my desktop - then do another job then use my laptop - I cant be sure I am not creating a conflict that will jam LR sync up again.

IT seems to be essential to only have one copy of LRC open at a time - largely because LR Sync only works with one catalog at a time. And each catalog is essentially confined to one machine.

Adobe really needs to create a cloud native catalog - maybe that uses caching for performance - but the current config is clunky.

Thanks

Chris

Rob_Cullen

Community Expert

" largely because LR Sync only works with one catalog at a time."

That should read- " largely because LR Sync only works with ONE (Lr-Classic) catalog......" fullstop!

You can swap LrC catalogs, but trying to sync Lightroom-Classic on two systems is prone to failure and corruptions.

The accepted method now seems to be: Lightroom-Classic 14.5.1 on the desktop, and Lightroom 8.5.1 on a laptop or 'secondary' desktop.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .

K

kyla598ellis

Participant

I have read almost every post here on LR Classic Sync Issues - I have held down the option ket and attempted to rebuild the sync database but I cannot control how and when LR Classic syncs. Yesterday I set up a new folder and loaded 40 images. It synced fine. Today I set up a new folder and put an image in there and nothing happens. If I click the cloud symbol it has a check mark to say it synced. I see no sync activity listed, and online it has created the collection, but the image I put in the collection is missing. I have tried unchecking and rechecking sync with lightroom but nothing happens. I have wasted SOOO much time trying to get this to work reliably.

Help!

LR Classic 14.5.1
MacOS 15.6.1

By MyAARPMedicare @ChrisPhotoClimb

Hello @ChrisPhotoClimb,
You're not alone—Lightroom Classic sync can be frustratingly inconsistent. If the cloud icon shows a checkmark but the image isn’t syncing, try these steps:

- Confirm the image is in a synced collection (not just a folder).
- Check the “All Synced Photographs” collection to see if it appears there.
- Hold Option + click the cloud icon to access “View Sync Activity” and look for errors.
- Try removing the image from the collection and re-adding it.
- If issues persist, consider creating a new catalog and re-enabling sync—corrupted catalogs often cause silent failures.

Adobe’s sync engine has known quirks, especially after macOS updates. A clean reinstall of Lightroom Classic may help stabilize things.

Best Regards,
Kyla Ellis

A

Aleke

Community Manager

Hi @ChrisPhotoClimb, sorry to hear you're running into sync issues.

Just to help narrow things down, does this happen with any specific file types? Also, could you try logging in to Lightroom Web and check if you have a Sync Errors folder? You can follow the steps here: https://adobe.ly/3HYEOJI

Thanks so much!
Alek

*(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*

C

ChrisPhotoClimbAuthor

Known Participant

All file types - note I did have an error two days ago with a .psb but I removed it and do not try and sync .psb

I cannot see sync errors under all photos in LR online - and the interface looks completely different from what is shown in the article.

I am MacOS and Safari.

Thx Chris

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