Skip to main content
G
gomboman
December 3, 2025
Answered

Upgraded from Lightroom 6.10 to Lightroom Classic 15.0.1 Catalog issues

  • December 3, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 2831 views

I just upgraded from Lightroom 6.10 to Lightroom Classic 15.0.1 and my main catalog did not upgrade correctly. I'm getting the error " Lightroom encountered problems trying to update the format of the catalog file and cannot use this catalog in this version of Lightroom. I'm running an older i7 4770 PC 16GB RAM with Windows 10 22H2 which I believe meets the system requirements from Adobe. 

 

I've tried to upgrade my current catalog without success and also created a new catalog and tried to import from my current catalogue but that also failed. My catalog is 5GB tied to 7,000 photos and stored on a second internal HD which is separate from my boot OS drive where LR installed. 

 

I did successfully update an older small Lightroom 4 catalog so I'm thinking there are issues with my larger catalog. The catalog has been optimized, and as far as I know, there are no corruption issues.  

 

Any suggestions to help get my main catalog upgraded would be appreciated. 

Correct answer AxelMatt

Several user report a problem that the recent version has sometimes problems to update catalog from Lightroom 6 an earlier.  Although is claimed to have fixed this issue, but it seems it doesn't really fixed.

 

Past experience has shown that Lightroom Classic 13.2 can handle such old catalogs usually without issues.

The problem is that this version isn't available in the Creative Desktop Client anymore. Try to contact the Adobe customer support and ask they to provide download links to earlier versions. Explain why you need them. But there's no guarantee you'll succeed.

Click on the chat bubble in the lower-right corner:  Photoshop Desktop Help

Type "agent" to chat with a human employee. If the agent isn't able or doesn't want to provide you with download link, hang up and try again. Some users have reported that they have to try several agents before getting one who could help.

 

If you get this version follow the steps below:

  • Install LrC 13.2
  • Start LR and upgrade the appropriate catalog
  • Install the recent version of Lightroomo Classic 
  • After starting LR upgrade the catalog again

 

 

 

4 replies

D
drtonyb
Legend
December 6, 2025

@gomboman provided his Lr 6 catalog to me, only the .lrcat file, no Previews.

 

I was able to upgrade his Lr 6 catalog without any errors using LrC 15.0.1. I conclude that Lr 6 Previews is the problem and changes in LrC 14 have introduced the failure to upgrade.

 

@Sameer K Adobe needs to get to the bottom of this issue as I'm sure this hasn't been the only instance of the problem.

 

A
Community Expert
AxelMattCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 6, 2025
quote

@gomboman provided his Lr 6 catalog to me, only the .lrcat file, no Previews.

 

I was able to upgrade his Lr 6 catalog without any errors using LrC 15.0.1. I conclude that Lr 6 Previews is the problem and changes in LrC 14 have introduced the failure to upgrade.


By @drtonyb

 

@drtonyb That's an interesting theory and worth investigating further.

 

My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
G
gombomanAuthor
December 6, 2025

That's ineresting @drtonyb that you were able to open my Lr 6 catalog file without any errors. I went back and copied the.same file to a new test folder, withot any other files except for the .lrcat. I get the "Unable to Upgrade Catalog" error every time going from L6 to LR15.

 

I sure don't understand this but could there be a hardware or software conflict that might be different on my system. I'm on a older PC running Windows 10 22H2. Not sure what setup @drtonyb was running. 

    D
    drtonyb
    Legend
    December 5, 2025

    @gomboman 

     

    In Lightroom 6.1, create a new catalog then try File > Import from Another Catalog... and import your Lr6 catalog.

     

    Then in LrC 15.0.1 try openning the new Lr6 catalog and see if it can be upgraded.

     

    G
    gombomanAuthor
    December 5, 2025

    Yeah, thanks everyone for trying to help. Importing from another catalog also didn't work. I've backed up my working 6.10 catalog again and it passes the integrity test and works perfectly fine running 6.10.

    When I try to open my 6.10 catalogs running 14.1 I get corruption errors. When I try to open the catalogs in 15.01 I get errors "problems trying to update the format".

    At this point, I'm not sure what I can do except use my old version of 6.10 which works perfectly fine but is no longer supported by Adobe.

    A
    Community Expert
    AxelMattCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    December 5, 2025

    Several user report a problem that the recent version has sometimes problems to update catalog from Lightroom 6 an earlier.  Although is claimed to have fixed this issue, but it seems it doesn't really fixed.

     

    Past experience has shown that Lightroom Classic 13.2 can handle such old catalogs usually without issues.

    The problem is that this version isn't available in the Creative Desktop Client anymore. Try to contact the Adobe customer support and ask they to provide download links to earlier versions. Explain why you need them. But there's no guarantee you'll succeed.

    Click on the chat bubble in the lower-right corner:  Photoshop Desktop Help

    Type "agent" to chat with a human employee. If the agent isn't able or doesn't want to provide you with download link, hang up and try again. Some users have reported that they have to try several agents before getting one who could help.

     

    If you get this version follow the steps below:

    • Install LrC 13.2
    • Start LR and upgrade the appropriate catalog
    • Install the recent version of Lightroomo Classic 
    • After starting LR upgrade the catalog again

     

     

     

    My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 9 - PureRAW 6 - Topaz Photo AI
    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    December 3, 2025

    Try upgrading a recent backup copy of your Lr 6 catalog. Unzip it, then copy the unzipped catalog file to a brand new folder, and then try upgrading that unzipped copy.

    Sameer K
    Community Manager
    Sameer KCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    December 3, 2025

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

    Where do you store your original Lightroom catalog from version 6? This may be a common catalog corruption. We'll duplicate the catalog when it works and upgrade the duplicated copy. 

     

    First, install a previous version of Lightroom Classic v14.1 from the Creative Cloud desktop app. In the App tab, go to Lightroom Classic > Other versions > scroll down to v14.1 and install it. 

     

     

    Once Lightroom Classic v14.1 is installed, navigate to the location where your original catalog is stored and double-click on the catalog to launch it with v14.1. Check if the catalog is updated. If it does, you can update to Lightroom Classic v15.0.1 from the Creative Cloud and the catalog you upgraded with v14.1. 

     

    Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
    Sameer K
    (Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

      G
      gombomanAuthor
      December 3, 2025

      Hey @Sameer K, thanks for the help. I'll give this a try with V14.1. For some reason though, I don't get the "Other versions" drop down, I only see Uninstall which I've tried a couple times.  

       

       

      Sameer K
      Community Manager
      Sameer KCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      December 4, 2025

      Hey, @gomboman. I guess you're using the Creative Cloud Apps web page. Please search for Creative Cloud desktop app on your machine app and verify if you find the other versions. Head here for the detailed steps: https://adobe.ly/4iLgHfK

       

      Thanks!
      Sameer K
      (Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices