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brucel17450683
Participant
March 12, 2025
Answered

Opening LrC fails to use working catalog and does not restart with catalog when checkbox is selected

  • March 12, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 469 views

LrC 14.2; Windows 10.0.19045

When starting Lightroom Classic I always get the Lightroom Classic Catalog Upgrade dialog box and have to choose a different catalog.  After selecting the Choose a Different Catalog button the next dialog box lists older catalogs but not my current working catalog.  I click the Choose a Different Catalog button and navigate to my current working catalog which then appears in the list of catalogs after being selected.  The "Always load this catalog on startup" checkbox is then selected and Open is clicked to start LrC.  Closing and re-starting LrC always returns to the same catalog upgrade dialog without honoring the "Always load this catalog on startup" checkbox.

 

Correct answer brucel17450683

Thanks for the process to finally get my LrC back to the point where I can open it with my current working catalog.  It's not a proper fix to the bug of not honoring the checkbox of  "Always load this catalog on startup" but at least it solved my problem.  The first two methods of reseting the lightroom preference did not work.  When I renamed the hidden files of preferences and let them get re-made by launching lightroom again my initial problem of needing to select my working catalog is gone.  Now I will just need to deal with the fallout of needlessly losing all my preferences (including the ones I've forgotten about) because of a software bug.

/Bruce

4 replies

KR Seals
Community Expert
KR SealsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 14, 2025

Something like this happened to me recently. Very similar symptoms. It turned out that I was trying to load a corrupted catalog. There was no message at all from LrC, just not loading. The catalog had been corrupted by bad RAM in the new build I had just finished. Note: it may not be bad RAM in your case, but still, a corrupt catalog.  I unzipped the most recent backup, renamed the bad catalog, the copied the unzipped backup to the Lightroom Classic folder and it started right up.

 

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
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brucel17450683Author
Participant
March 14, 2025
I thought it might be something like this since it has something to do with upgrade process for the latest catalog format so I made a new catalog as this is one of the options. The new catalog is now my current working catalog and the checkbox is still not being honored.
JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 13, 2025

Try resetting the preferences: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
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brucel17450683AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
March 15, 2025

Thanks for the process to finally get my LrC back to the point where I can open it with my current working catalog.  It's not a proper fix to the bug of not honoring the checkbox of  "Always load this catalog on startup" but at least it solved my problem.  The first two methods of reseting the lightroom preference did not work.  When I renamed the hidden files of preferences and let them get re-made by launching lightroom again my initial problem of needing to select my working catalog is gone.  Now I will just need to deal with the fallout of needlessly losing all my preferences (including the ones I've forgotten about) because of a software bug.

/Bruce

GoldingD
GoldingD
Legend
March 12, 2025

Using Windows File Explorer, navigate to wherever the correct catalog is stored, and double click on it as to open it in LrC.

And assuming that in launches, check the settings for what catalog should be opened upon starting LrC.

 

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brucel17450683Author
Participant
March 13, 2025
Not helpful. Did you read my post?
kglad
Community Expert
kgladCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 12, 2025

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.



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