LrC 15.4.1: Direct iPhone to External Drive import fails with “could not be read or destination folder is write-protected”

Hi ​@C K24046856so07,

Thank you again for your patience and for helping us investigate this issue so thoroughly.
For anyone else following this thread, here’s a summary of what we found:

• We collected diagnostic logs, a screen recording, and verified that macOS permissions (including Full Disk Access and folder permissions) were configured correctly.
• We confirmed that importing photos by AirDropping them to the Mac first and then importing into Lightroom Classic worked without any issues.
• Through additional testing, we narrowed the problem down further and found that the failure was not caused by the destination folder or the direct iPhone import workflow in general.
• Instead, the import was consistently failing because of one specific .MOV video file. Once that file was removed from the iPhone, the remaining photos and videos were imported successfully.

At this point, it appears the import issue was isolated to that particular video file rather than a broader Lightroom Classic import problem.

Thank you again for taking the time to work through all the troubleshooting and helping us isolate the root cause. I really appreciate it.

Best,
Anshul Saini

Thank you for sharing the screen recording, ​@C K24046856so07.

I noticed the “Import Results” dialog showing:

“The following files were not imported because they could not be read or the destination folder is write-protected.”

This is helpful additional information. This suggests we may be dealing with a permissions or file access issue rather than an import issue alone.

Could you please let me know:

• Where are you importing the photos from? (SD card, external drive, network drive, internal SSD, etc.)
• Where is your Lightroom Classic catalog stored? (Internal drive, external drive, OneDrive, etc.)
• During import, are you using Copy, Move, Add, or Copy as DNG?

Also, on your Mac, could you please check the following:

1. Files & Folders permissions: Go to: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files & Folders and ensure Lightroom Classic has permission to access locations such as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Removable Volumes (if you’re importing from an SD card or external drive)

2. Full Disk Access: Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access

   Make sure Adobe Lightroom Classic is enabled. If it isn’t listed, click the + button and add Lightroom Classic from the Applications folder.

3. Destination folder permissions: If you’re copying files into a folder during import, please verify that:

• The destination folder isn’t read-only.
• Your macOS user account has Read & Write permissions.
• The destination isn’t inside a cloud-synced folder (such as OneDrive, Dropbox, or iCloud Drive) that may be restricting file access.

4. Test with a local folder: As a quick test, try creating a new folder directly on your internal drive (for example: ~/Pictures/LR Import Test). Then try importing a few images into that folder.

Let me know how it goes. That should help us determine whether this is a permissions issue or something else.

Thank you again for taking the time to capture everything so thoroughly.

Best,
Anshul Saini

​@C K24046856so07, thank you for sharing the diagnostic logs. I’ve received the link via DM and have forwarded it to the product team.

I would also request you to share a screen recording of the issue. Could you please upload and share that as well?

Ideally, start the recording before launching Lightroom Classic and continue recording until the issue occurs. This will help us correlate.

Thank you again for your help.

Best,
Anshul Saini

Hi ​@C K24046856so07,

Thanks for checking and confirming that the issue still occurs in Lightroom Classic 15.4.1.

To help us investigate further, could you please generate a diagnostic log after reproducing the issue?

1. Use Lightroom Classic until the import problem occurs.
2. Go to Preferences > General.
3. Hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), then click Generate Diagnostic Report.
4. Once the log has been generated, click Show in Finder/Explorer.

Please upload the log file to Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, or a similar file-sharing service, then send me the download link via DM (click my profile and select Send Message).

Also, could you please start screen-recording the whole issue? You can start recording before launching Lightroom Classic and continue until the problem happens.

Thanks again for helping us with this. This should help us identify what’s happening during the import process and will be shared with the product team for further investigation.

Best,
Anshul Saini