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E
ewhiteme
Participant
August 14, 2025
Answered

My new LRC won't show my pics from my previous catalog.

  • August 14, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 295 views

I have a new Laptop running Windows 11. My old was Windows 10. I can't get my new LRC to present my pix  or thumbnails from my previous catalog. The library screen populates with 270 blank thumbnails showing the edits symbols for those pix but no images. If I want a particular image who's name is evidient on the blank thubnail, I need to import it individually. How do I organize the files to populate the images? 

Correct answer Rob_Cullen
Thanks.


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Yes, all the grids have exclamation points (except the 4 pictures I added that are working normally, of course).
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Yes, the file panel that indicates there are pictures in the different files all have question marks.
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The computer is new and I just did a search of the files on the C drive. There are no photos so the files on my old computer are not on my new. My photos are currently all in Dropbox and OneDrive. There are a lot there that were never in a Lightroom catalog. I only used Lightroom to process the photos I wanted to process.

Ed

Edward R. White, MD
Damariscotta, Maine and Aix

"There are no photos so the files on my old computer are not on my new."- There lies the problem.

You need 'local' versions of the camera files that Lr-Classic can 'read' and reference in the Catalog.

Dropbox and OneDrive will not do, unless there are local copies.

So you need to relink the photos to the catalog. See these web links for instructions on re-linking 'Missing' photos:

MISSING FILES AND FOLDERS-(Computer Darkroom)

MISSING FILES & FOLDERS (Lightroom Queen)

 

"I only used Lightroom to process the photos I wanted to process"

I take the opposite view- Every one of my photos is referenced in the catalog- that is how I find images, and how they are always easy to edit.  That's the real purpose of  a Catalog database- Digital Image Management.

 

 

1 reply

A
Community Manager
AlekeCommunity Manager
Community Manager
August 14, 2025

Hi @ewhiteme, welcome to the community!

Could you let us know which version of Lightroom Classic you're using? Also, are you seeing blank thumbnails only, or does the issue persist when you open the images too?

If it’s just the thumbnails, I’d recommend trying this handy guide to rebuild your preview cache, it often helps clear things up: https://adobe.ly/4oDpeUj

Lemme know how it goes!
Alek

*(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
E
ewhitemeAuthor
Participant
August 14, 2025
Thanks Alek,

It's version 14.4

The thumbnails are blank gray. Nothing happens when I click on them. When I installed LrC on this new computer, I was told the catalog would have to be updated (which I allowed) and the library page populated with the correct number of photos but no images. However, I can see the photo file name, I can see that the photos that are supposed to be there have been edited in Lightroom (little edit symbols in the corners of the thumbnails), and I can find the photo in Dropbox. Also, I was able to add 4 new photos to this catalog after the problem was evident. Those thumbnails and photos behave normally. So, I'm sure that with change of computer and the fact that I was previously using LrC, there is some problem with my being able to assemble the catalog files in the right place. When I look for them, there are a lot of empty folders in the lightroom paths, even in OneDrive but, admittedly, I don't know what the f*** I'm doing!

Thanks, Ed

Edward R. White, MD
Damariscotta, Maine and Aix



Edward R. White, MD
Damariscotta, Maine and Aix
Rob_Cullen
Community Expert
Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 15, 2025

Aleke has given you a link about refreshing the Previews cache, but the grey previews need the original camera files available to be able to rebuild the Previews.

Lr-Classic cannot reference the photo files in Dropbox (or OneDrive) unless there is a local copy that LrC can read.

So where are you camera files exactly, and do your grid view previews show exclamation marks? (indicating 'Missing' images.) Do your folders in the Folder panel show with question marks?

 

 

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 .
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