Edits lost after closing and re-opening Lightroom

Question

Lightroom 8.4 - 20250603-0500-10f89fbWindows 11 Version 24H2 Over the past few months I have had multiple incidents where I finish editing an NEF file, do some exports and then close Lightroom, only to find when I open it again that the edits are gone and the image looks as it did before I started working on it.  The XMP file is always present in the directory with the NEF file when I check after it happens, but there is no custom data in there, so either my changes aren't being committed to the XMP file at all, or it is somehow being overwritten/reset. The RAW files I work with are stored in a folder on my OS disk, so loss of access to the file shouldn't be a factor.  This happens to roughly every 1 in 20 photos I edit but I cannot reproduce the problem when I try.

Anshul_Saini · Answer

Hi Roy, thanks for sharing all these details. I know how frustrating it must be to lose edits after spending time on them. Let’s work through this together.

To help us investigate, could you confirm a few things:

1. Are you working only on Lightroom (cloud-based) desktop, or is the image also synced to other devices (mobile/web)?
2. Do you see a syncing indicator in the upper-right corner before closing Lightroom, or does it show “Synced and Backed Up”?

3. After finishing edits, do you manually trigger Save to XMP or rely on Lightroom’s internal sync?
4. Does this happen only after exports, or even if you don’t export and just close the app?

5. You mentioned the XMP file exists but lacks the custom edits. Could you share one such XMP file along with that image with us here or via DM? (You can upload via Google Drive, Dropbox, or WeTransfer.)

6. Try reproducing it again. Edit a photo, wait a minute, then close Lightroom and reopen immediately. Do the edits persist? If possible, try editing an image while offline (disconnect Wi-Fi) and see if the behavior changes when you reconnect.

If this is happening intermittently, it could be related to sync conflicts or XMP overwrite timing. Your sample files and any patterns you notice will help us escalate this properly to the product team.

Looking forward to your reply!

Best,
Anshul Saini

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