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trevorw2560870
trevorw2560870
Participant
Oct 31, 2025 6:11 AM UTC
Question

only able to open LrC using the shift + Control keys in Windows 11 since reinstalling Windows 11.

Since rebuilding my computer and reinstalling Windows 11 (now on version 25H2) and moving the entire Lightroom folder containing the catalog, backups, etc. to the C drive (Photos stored on an external drive) I get a message stating that the catalog is corrupt and needs to be repaired before LrC can open if I attempt to open LrC. after a short period of time, the message - and progress bar - go away and nothing else happens, i.e. LrC does not open although it shows it is running in the Task Manager. I then need to end the task using Task Manager.

I have found that by pressing the Shift + Control keys while opening LrC seems to work ok with LrC using the current/latest catalog. Everything works just fine with all my edits, etc. still in place. any additional edits are saved ok when I exit and are available when I reopen LrC using the Shift + Control keys.

I have attempted to fix the problem using all the recommendations on this site as well as Google, YouTube, ChatGPT, etc.

2 replies

Sameer K
Community Manager
Sameer KCommunity Manager
Community Manager
Oct 31, 2025 8:05 AM UTC

Hey, @trevorw2560870. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. I'll help you figure this out. 

 

Lightroom may be pointing to a corrupt catalog, and when you use the CTRL + Shift launch, you're pointing it to the correct catalog, or it could be a permissions issue, as when you launch with the CTRL + Shift method on Windows, the UAC permission is required, and that isn't the case when you launch normally, in most cases. 

 

Here are a primary steps you can try:

  • Reset Lightroom Classic following the second (manual) method from this article: https://adobe.ly/4fOPxm4
  • After reset, head to your current catalog & double-click on the <catalog name>.LRCAT file to launch it directly in Lightroom Classic. 

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Sameer K

(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

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trevorw2560870
trevorw2560870Author
Participant
Oct 31, 2025 10:54 AM UTC

@Sameer K

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it as described, but with the same results.

As an additional bit of info, if I start LrC after completing the second manual method - NOT from the *.lrcat file - LrC starts up ok, but with a default, clean catalog. if I then try to open the 'correct' catalog from the File menu I get the same result. i.e. LrC tries to restart using the correct catalog and I get the same results, i.e. corupt catalog and then nothing although LrC is running in Task Manager.

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