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jcmcnamara5
Participant
March 16, 2021
Question

Lost an entire catalogue?

  • March 16, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 205 views

Is it possible to have lost an entire catalogue?  When I open Elements 13 I get a message that the catalogue can't be found.  In fact, I can't find the catalogue anywhere in File Explorer.  All my picture files are still on my external drive, where they were save, but the My Catalogue seems to have vanished.  If gone, can I just creat a new Catalogue and import everyting into it, or will that create some conflicts?

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1 reply

MichelBParis
MichelBParis
Legend
March 16, 2021

Do an Explorer search for files named 'catalog.pse13db'.

All catalog folders in the PSE13 format contain such a database file.

If you find such files, check the dates of the files in the catalog to see if they may be the one you are searching.

Be sure to allow to display 'hidden' files and folders in the Windows Explorer.

J
jcmcnamara5Author
Participant
March 16, 2021

Thanks.  I tried that, and it's still gone.  I found an old one but it only takes me to 2015.  Can I just use that and import the rest?  Or creat a new catalogue and import them all?  Tedious, but I'm not sure what else to do.

MichelBParis
MichelBParis
Legend
March 16, 2021
quote

Thanks.  I tried that, and it's still gone.  I found an old one but it only takes me to 2015.  Can I just use that and import the rest?  Or creat a new catalogue and import them all?  Tedious, but I'm not sure what else to do.


By @jcmcnamara5

If you can't find a more recent catalog, yes, you should first use it to start with. You might even start with a catalog folder copy for safety. You don't mention if you had made full backups on external disks? If you find such backup folders more recent than 2015, there is hope.

 

If you start with your old catalog, you can import from files and folders in your computer, in bulk or more selectively by folder trees. The already catalogued files should be skipped to avoid duplicates. The import session will recognized tags and captions if they have been 'written to files' at that time.

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