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mac94086
Participant
April 14, 2025
Question

LrC recognizes some, but not all directories on external drive

  • April 14, 2025
  • 5 replies
  • 279 views

I keep all my Lightroom Classic files on an external drive. Today when I opened LrC, it recognized some, but not all of the directories on my external drive. I keep folders by year and the Library module of LrC only sees up to the year 2020, but the drive has folders all the way to 2025. 

 

Any ideas on why this would happen? 

 

I did reset my Windows and had to reinstall all the Adobe apps recently. Would that be a part of it? 

Thanks in advance. 

    5 replies

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    April 15, 2025

    Are you sure that the correct catalog is being opened when you start LrC? Have you used Windows File Explorer to navigate to the correct catalog and opened it by double clicking on it? Default in LrC is to open most recent, LrC might get most recent wrong (this sometimes happens after upgrades, and might happen after reinstalls, perhaps due to a preferences file corruption)

    M
    mac94086Author
    Participant
    April 14, 2025

    I'm just going to pull a catalog file off backup and I think that will solve the problem. 

    Can I delete this thread? Or mark it closed? 

      dj_paige
      dj_paige
      Legend
      April 14, 2025

      Where in the many different screens of LrC is it that you are looking and you see that LrC does not recognize directories? PLEASE BE SPECIFIC.

       

      Please also include a screen capture of this place where LrC does not recognize directories.

      Use the "Insert Photos" icon to include your screen captures in your reply. Do NOT attach files.

       

       

       

      FYI:

      LrC does not "recognize" directories anyway, it is a database, it only knows about directories which have at least one photo imported into the database.

      M
      mac94086Author
      Participant
      April 14, 2025

      To be more clear, yes, I understand that Lightroom works on a database, not reading the disc. Maybe a better description is that even though it appears to be reading the right LrC catalog, it does NOT have the files that were imported prior to my reinstalling Windows. 

       

      I don't want to just import all the photos that are missing, because - again, if I understand Lightroom - I'll lose all the edits I did on those RAW files. 

      As to "capture the place" where this is happening, I did say that it is in the Library module. 

      A
      Community Manager
      AlekeCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      April 14, 2025

      Hi @mac94086! Welcome to the community! 

      I'm sorry to hear that some of your directories are missing. Did you make any recent changes to your photo folders outside of Lightroom Classic? Do you see an exclamation icon in the corner of your missing photos in the Grid view? If so, I recommend following this guide to help Lightroom Classic locate your missing photos: Locate Missing Photos.

      Hope this helps!

      Alek

      *(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
      M
      mac94086Author
      Participant
      April 14, 2025

      Thanks Alek. That video isn't exactly what I'm looking for. Now that I've dug a little deeper (and this is a rabbit hole that I didn't really intend to go down today), I think this is a catalog problem. In a way, it looks like the catalog is missing 4 years worth of my changes. 

      I do think that Windows wiped out my catalog file and I'll have to go back to a backup. 

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