P: AI Masks Require updating and/or disappear

[Shelemiah]

Hello,

I recently had a call with Adobe support with no luck. I have found some threads on this but nothing presents a solution and it seems hard to find what the actual issue is.

If I edit a client gallery and use any healing brush tool or AI masking tool, the mask or healing brush/generative AI will get a red dot underneath after going back to the start of the gallery, my AI edits are gone....

I also noticed this happens 100% of the time when I quite and reopen lightroom, I can fix the mask, update ai settings but it just resets each time I open lightroom.

We tested a new catalogue, we tested a bunch of things with no luck. 

We really need a fix on this Adobe it is killing workflow, not sure what broke this setting. I can't revert to an old version because I have lots of photos (I do 1 catalogue per year) and can't go back weeks of client work.

Also this catalogue was started at the begining of 2025 so there is no version 13 of this catalogue to revert to and test.

PLEASE HELP ADOBE!

[johnrellis]

@Christina A24239111s52s, these steps have solved the issue for most (but not all):

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/ai-masks-need-updating-constantly-every...

[Shelemiah]

@Anshul_Saini Unfortunately, I've noticed that this issue appears to be back. I hope Adobe can find a fix for this soon. I can't keep redoing the steps above and breaking old masks; it's not sustainable for any workflow, unfortunately. 

[johnrellis]

@Shelemiah, your Help > System Info shows your catalog is stored under the Pictures folder. Are you syncing Pictures with Icloud, Google Drive, Onedrive, Dropbox, or similar service?  These cloud-sync services have a bad reputation for interfering with LR.

[Shelemiah]

@johnrellis Yes, my catalogue is stored on my internal SSD in the pictures folder. The files are stored on external SSDs or my larger hard drives when finished working on them. 

[Shelemiah]

Sorry I should have said no I don't store files that work with lightroom in Google drive or any cloud service. Just the final exported finished jpgs go there. 🙂

[Shelemiah]

@Anshul_Saini @Aleke - Any other ideas on how to solve this issue? The issue wasn't solved as I suspected; it only seemed to fix it for a short while. I can't do this process continuously.

Hopefully there is a perminant fix in the works or coming?

[Alexandra_SERVAIS9885]

Bonjour Marion,

Je rencontre exactement le même problème et en pleine saison des mariages c'est très compliqué !

Avez-vous trouver une solution à ce problème ?

J'ai même essayé d'installer une version antérieur mais le problème persiste, j'espère que Adobe nous apportera rapidement une solution !

Alexandra

[luzye_photo]

Hello software engineering team.

Please help.  I just spent 2 full days editing a wedding and have to redo the work again.  This is the 2nd time this happens, now on a smaller catalog which I had to create after the 1st time this happened back in March.

Al edits such as brushes and cloning are transitory.  Once a user clicks away from a photo, they need to be recomputed, obliterating the user's previous Al edits.  Can this be addressed? It has been happening for months, and creating a new catalog partially addresses the issue.  PLEASE note that selecting all of the images and recomputing AI edits is NOT helpful as it yields random results that do not resemble the previous edits, especially for skin.  Also, please note that this is not an isolated issue.  It is happening to other photographers. Thanks.

[luzye_photo]

From a Facebook group:

"PLEASE HELP. I spend countless hours editing a wedding and have used the lightroom ai remove tool on SO MANY photos, yet none of it saved during export! Did I just waste all of that time?? Has anyone had this happen?? I am crying, I am leaving on a trip and I NEED this wedding to be finished this weekend like what on earth??"

[KR Seals]

Please copy and post your system info:  Menu -> Help -> System Info

The first thing I would do in this situation is to reset the Lightroom classic Preferences.

[Korbin28428483wl4i]

This issue just popped up to where I use a background mask and as soon as I leave the photo to edit the next photo in line, the AI background mask has to be updated. This makes it where I cannot batch edit or batch export since the mask is removed once I leave the photo so I have to export 1 by 1 to make sure that my mask stays. Is there a fix because there are not any updates available and it has greatly decreased my editing speed. I have never had this issue before and I use background masks on 99% of all my shoots. I am on the latest version of lightroom classic and using a M1 Max Mac Studio woth 64GB of RAM. 

[luzye_photo]

Thank you!  It is working fine now after I created a new catalog and started my cloning/brushing from scratch. 

Lightroom Classic version: 14.3.1 [ 202505061331-b063faef ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-US
Operating system: Mac OS 15
Version: 15.5.0 [24F74]
Application architecture: arm64
Logical processor count: 10
Processor speed: NA
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Power Source: Battery, 86%
Built-in memory: 32,768.0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 988.5MB / 21,845.3MB (4%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 32,768.0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 9,503.3 MB (29.0%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 438,075.0 MB
Memory cache size: 7,594.4MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 17.3.1 [ 2227 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 6162MB / 16383MB (37%)
Camera Raw real memory: 6457MB / 32768MB (19%)

Cache1:
Final1- RAM:356.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, 2025-06-10 Archie_Erica wedding previews-11.NEF
NT- RAM:356.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, Combined:356.0MB

Cache2:
m:7,594.4MB, n:352.1MB

U-main: 242.0MB

Standard Preview Size: 3456 pixels
Displays: 1) 3456x2234, 2) 2048x1152

Graphics Processor Info:
Metal: Apple M1 Max
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: ON

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Users/luzye/Documents/editing/yetanothercatalog/yetanothercatalog.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/luzye/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
3) Flickr

Config.lua flags:

[johnrellis]

These symptoms can occur when LR can't write the .lrcat-data file for some reason, either because LR has corrupted it or there is a permissions issue. LR stores computed masks in that file. Try these steps:

1. Do the menu command Help > System Info. If you're not on the latest version (currently 14.3.1), do Help > Updates.

2. In LR, do Edit > Catalog Settings > General > Show. That will open Windows File Explorer / Mac Finder on the current catalog folder.

3. Exit LR.

4. Move the file <catalog>.lrcat-data to the Desktop.

5. Start LR.

6. In Library Grid view (not Loupe view), select all photos and do Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings. That will recompute all the AI masks, which could take a while.

[Korbin28428483wl4i]

Thank you! I will give this a try. I'm currently creating a new catalog to try too. 

[johnrellis]

Creating an entirely new catalog will also create a new .lrcat-data file. 

[Korbin28428483wl4i]

The new catalog seemed to have done the trick!

[Aleke]

Hi @luzye_photo!

Sorry to hear about the issues you're having with AI tools. Lightroom Classic stores AI masks and Generative Remove patches in the 'Catalogname.lrcat-data' file. Sometimes, this file can get corrupted or have incorrect preferences, causing edits to need constant updates.

To test this, move the file out of your catalog folder and start Lightroom Classic. You'll see a dialog about the missing data; just click 'Continue'. Lightroom Classic will recreate the file. Now, try updating one of the masks and see if it sticks this time. If it does, you'll need to update all your masks, but hopefully only this one last time.

Good luck! Let me know if this helps. 

Alek

[luzye_photo]

Aleke,

Thanks!  That approach helped keep the AI retouching settings after recomputing them. 

Questions:

1)  What can I do to prevent this from happening again in the future?  Use a new catalog every time?  My catalog back in March contained 80k photos.  Then "this" happened, so I created a new one which worked until yesterday.  This one contained 10k when it stopped working.  

2)  The .lrcat-data file was 3.79 GB.  Is size the problem?  Should I monitor this for catalogs in use?

3)  Most importantly, what is Adobe doing to solve this glitch?  I cannot express how frustrating it was to spend 2 full days retouching and noticing that none of my cloning/brushing changes were present in the exports right before delivering this wedding.

Thank you! 

[britta_2105]

Hallo zusammen,

ich habe das gleiche Problem. Ich musste bei meiner letzten Hochzeit die KI-bearbeiteten Bilder alle einzeln aktiualisieren und dann sofort eintzeln exportieren, denn wenn man auf das nächste Bild springt, ist die KI-Einstellung wieder weg. Absolute Katastrophe! 

Ich arbeite mit Imagen AI. Kann es vielleicht daran liegen? Meinen LR-Katalog speichere ich schon immer auf einer externen Festplatte, hatte bisher nie Probleme damit.

Ich wäre für jede Hilfe dankbar.

Britta

[luzye_photo]

I have had the same problem twice, both times wasting hours of detailed wedding work.  The only solution so far is creating a new catalog.  

[johnrellis]

@luzye_photo: " have had the same problem twice, both times wasting hours of detailed wedding work.  The only solution so far is creating a new catalog."

Did you try these steps?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/masks-in-lrc-need-constant-updating/m-p...

They fix the issue for many (but not all) people.

[luzye_photo]

Yes, I did.  This helps:

1) creating a new catalog

2) recreating the .lrcat-data

I'd like for Adobe to address this issue so that we users do not have to constantly resort to 1) / 2) and having to recompute AI edits.  Both times I have had to delete and redo mine by hand as these are mostly serial skin touchups that do not look natural when randomly recomputed.  Thank you! 

[Aleke]

Hi @luzye_photo! I'm really glad to hear that my suggestion helped!

Just to share a bit more info—.lrcat-data files can sometimes get corrupted due to a mix of hardware, software, or even accidental user actions. Things like system crashes, sudden power outages, or faulty drives and cables can all play a part. Also, if Lightroom is writing to the catalog and something interrupts it—like unplugging an external drive—it can cause issues. And if you're storing the catalog on a cloud service or NAS, that can sometimes lead to problems too.

Hope that helps clarify things a bit!
Alek

[Wim15C3]

I’m encountering a critical and persistent bug in Lightroom Classic 14.3.1 on macOS that affects AI Remove, AI Masking, and Denoise workflows.

AI Remove / AI Masking resets after edit
– After applying a mask or content removal, the edits disappear when switching modules or reopening the image. The “Update Settings” prompt keeps reappearing even after updating.

Denoise becomes disabled after one use
– When I apply Denoise, it runs (no crash), but cannot be re-used unless I restart Lightroom.

Update All prompts don’t persist
– Even after applying “Update All,” the prompt comes back on the same images after some navigation.

I’ve tried:
– Clearing Camera Raw + Video Cache
– Disabling GPU
– Reinstalling Lightroom
– Testing in a new catalog
– Resetting individual images

None of these steps resolved the issue. I’m a professional photographer currently working on a book with 3000+ images. This is affecting delivery and deadlines.

This needs urgent attention. Please confirm this bug is known and provide a timeline or temporary patch.

Kind regards,
Wim 

[Claire H.]

Hi @Wim15C3, Welcome to the Lightroom Classic Community Forums! Thanks for all of this information. To better help you with this issue, we would like a few more details. Can you send me a screen recording or screenshots of the issues you're experiencing and your system info, so we can try replicating them? You can find this by going to Help > System Info, copying and pasting it into a text file, and attaching it here. Thanks! ^CH