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Participant
February 7, 2026
Question

photo catalog missing

  • February 7, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 57 views

My entire photo catalog from Lighroom is missing. Thousands of photos.

    3 replies

    Mariano Molinari
    Participating Frequently
    February 9, 2026

    Hi,

    What do you mean with missinng? 
    • Do you have a .lrcat  file in you hard disk?
    • If so, what do you see inside the catalog once opened in Lightroom?

    Mariano


     

    Mariano Molinari
    Franciszek67
    Participating Frequently
    February 8, 2026

    If your photo catalog vanished from Lightroom after the update, it's usually because the app switched to a new default catalog location or the old one got hidden.

    Go to Edit > Catalog Settings > General tab and check the "Location" path. If it's pointing somewhere empty, click "Show" or "Relocate" and browse to your old catalog file (normally in Pictures/Lightroom or a custom folder you set before).

    If you still can't see it, hold Alt (Option on Mac) while launching Lightroom – it'll ask you to choose or create a catalog. Point it to your existing .lrcat file.

    That brings everything back in most cases without losing edits. Let me know if the file itself is gone and we can dig into recovery options.

    Participant
    February 8, 2026

    Thank you!

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 7, 2026

    @lauraw42398844  To get an answer from other Lightroom users you are going to need to give more information.

    What ‘Lightroom’ version Number?

    How are you subscribed? (Adobe, Apple Store, Google Playstore, Free)

    What device? (PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android device)

    What is meant by “Missing”?

    Have you ‘Signed In’ with the correct User ID and password?

     

    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 .