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Greg339821751go2
Participant
October 21, 2026
Question

Sync repeatedly stuck on a specific small subset of photos (Lightroom Classic 15.6, Mac)

Environment: Lightroom Classic 15.6, macOS

Steps to reproduce:
1. Create a new collection containing photos never synced before (ordinary RAW/.CR3 files).
2. Enable sync on that collection.
3. Wait for sync to progress: most photos sync successfully, but a small subset (roughly 5-10% of the batch) gets stuck indefinitely.
4. No error message appears anywhere (not in Lightroom Classic, not on Lightroom Web "Sync Issues").
5. Create a second, separate collection containing only the stuck photos, and sync again: the exact same files get stuck again.

Example: synced a collection of 65 RAW photos, 58 synced successfully (confirmed on Lightroom mobile), 7 specific photos got stuck. Re-tested those same 7 files alone in a new collection: same 7 files stuck again.

Investigation done on the stuck files, no common factor found: different camera bodies, different focal lengths, same color label/treatment/develop status as the successfully synced photos, standard file names (no special characters), normal file sizes (20-30MB), files open normally in Lightroom.

Workaround (not a fix): manually removing the stuck photos from sync via Preferences > Lightroom Sync > right-click > "Remove from all synced photos" clears the queue, but those specific photos then never sync.

Already tried without success: pause/resume sync, disconnect/reconnect Adobe account, "Rebuild Sync Data" (Option key in Lightroom Sync preferences), catalog integrity check (passed, no errors), restarting Lightroom multiple times, updating to 15.6.

Expected result: all photos in a synced collection should sync without manual intervention, or at minimum show a clear error explaining why specific photos fail.

Actual result: sync queue stalls indefinitely on specific files with zero error feedback, requiring manual removal from sync to unblock the rest of the queue.

I also found another user reporting a similar pattern on 15.6 in the community forum (sync stuck on a small number of remaining images, clearing a few at a time only after restarting Lightroom).

    2 replies

    Claire H.
    Community Manager
    Claire H.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    October 21, 2026

    Hi ​@Greg339821751go2, Thank you for reporting this. This is a known issue where sync can get stuck on certain images, particularly those with AI-based edits (such as Denoise, Lens Blur, or AI Masking). Our engineering team has identified the root cause, and a fix is being worked on for an upcoming release.

    In the meantime, the most effective workaround is:

    • Open each stuck image in the Develop module

    • Make a small edit (e.g., slightly adjust Exposure), then undo it

    • This forces the sync engine to re-process the image

    If that doesn't resolve it, try removing the stuck images from the synced collection, wait for sync to settle, and then re-add them. If none of these help, we can collect diagnostic logs to investigate further. Thanks! ^CH

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    Greg339821751go2Author
    Participant
    October 21, 2026

    Hi Claire, thank you so much for the detailed answer and for confirming this is a known issue, it's reassuring to know the engineering team is already working on a fix.

    I tried the workaround (opening each stuck image in Develop, making a small edit then undoing it) on my 7 stuck photos. After about 10 minutes, the sync queue still shows the same 7 photos stuck, with no progress yet.

    Could you tell me roughly how long I should leave sync running after applying the workaround before concluding it hasn't worked? And if it doesn't work, should I go straight to removing/re-adding the photos from the synced collection, or is there anything else worth trying first?

    Thanks again for your help!

     

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