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!

[bastien_nicolas0900]

A t-on trouvé une solution?

[emmamariephoto]

I am actually so frustrated with this. It is distrupting my workflow so badly. I need to edit a photo and basically save it right away. I have a wedding gallery of 1,000 photos, I edited 300 just to go back the next day and see all my edits gone and I can't even go through and update them. All the masks are saying " needs to be recomputed" so I have to start all over again.  In my busiest season, 9 months pregnant trying to get these off to clients I am about to loose my marbles. 

[LindseyS918]

@Aleke i was able to use your steps above to resolve the issue.

to follow up though... should I leave the file on the desktop now that it is resolved? Or can I move  the file back to the original file location?

also, I am seeing from other threads that this fixed the masking issue then the issue returned- moving forward would I need to create a new catalog if this issue persists or any other advice if the problem returns?

thank you

[johnrellis]

@emmamariephoto, see here for a workaround that helps many but not all:

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

Follow the steps precisely. You won't lose your existing edits or catalog.

[Aleke]

Hi @LindseyS918! So glad to hear the issue is resolved for you.

You can go ahead and keep that file in a secure location as a backup, no need to move it back. Since Lightroom Classic rebuilt it after you moved it, everything should be good to go from here.

That said, the issue could pop up again for a few different reasons, like hardware problems, power outages, crashes while Lightroom is writing to the file, or if your catalog is stored on a NAS or cloud service.

If you start seeing this happen more often, it might be worth considering creating a new catalog just to be safe. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but feel free to reach out if anything else comes up!

Thanks again,
Alek

[johnrellis]

@bastien_nicolas0900 ,

A fair number of people have reported this issue. These symptoms can occur when LR can't write the catalog's .lrcat-data file for some reason, either because LR has corrupted it or there is a permissions issue. The .lrcat-data file stores AI settings computed for masks, remove, denoise, raw details, super resolution, and lens blur. (The main catalog database is in a different file, the .lrcat file.)

Try these steps for rebuilding the .lrcat-data file without losing your edits; these steps have helped many but not all:

1. Do the menu command Help > System Info. If you're not on the latest version (currently 14.4), do Help > Updates.

2. Post the entire contents of Help > System Info here, to help narrow down possible causes.

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

4. Exit LR.

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

6. Start LR.

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

Note that this will cause new variations for Generative AI Removes, so you'll have to review them individually to make sure they're acceptable.

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the main thread:

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

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the main thread:

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

[Judith2994305643fy]

Gibt es hier endlich eine Lösung zu? Dann kann man ja schon fast wieder alles über Photoshop machen, so aufwendig wie das bei LR geworden ist. EInen neuen Katalog habe ich bereits angefangen und trotzdem muss ich alles aktualisieren. BIld für BIld.

[johnrellis]

@Judith2994305643fy: "I've already started a new catalog, and I still have to update everything, image by image."

Are you perhaps syncing your catalog folder (or a parent folder) with Onedrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Idrive, or similar cloud service? Windows has a nasty habit of setting up Onedrive for your Pictures folder without even telling you.  There are many reports in this forum about cloud-sync services interfering with LR.

Please let us know either way, since Adobe hasn't even acknowledged this as a bug yet, so every bit of fact-gathering helps.

[Impressive_neighbor5C37]

I am at a complete loss about what to do over this. I've tried everything... removing the LRcat to desktop... removing lock from permissions. nothing is working. I've gone through a gallery of 1700 photos TWICE to remove only to find that nothing saved and I can't deliver the gallery to my client. How has this been an issue for 6+ months with no fix??? Going to spend the rest of the afternoon researching new editing software because researching this issue isn't fixing anything.

[D&E Photography]

I cannot believe I am still plagued by this issue. It adds hours and hours of repetative work. I am on windows, tried building a new catalog, same issue. Tried deleting the lrcat-data file and rebuilding but once again that was only a temporary fix and the issue came back. Just can't believe such a critical bug can just be sitting out here for over a year without a single official response & solution.

[leslier60869033]

Same issue. It's infuriating. Busiest season and I have to create a new LR catalog for every wedding plus constantly delete the data file and rebuild the AI assets - it's absurd. Ready to ditch Adobe altogether if this keeps up. 

[jessicab62786296]

i have the same exact issue and sometimes it will work to delete the lock and sometimes not. i even rewrote the backend of my coputer to try and figure this issue out. 

[GeMoMo]

I use macOS 15.5 and LRC 14.4

I modified an image by means of the generative AI remove tool. The final result as generated I like to keep.

After doing some other masking and colour modifications on the same image, the AI-modification-status button highlights yellow indicating some modifications need to be updated. After confirming this the earlier made generative-AI-removal spontenaously changes in another output which I don't like and don't want.

Some advise please how to avoid this unpredictable AI behaviour.

[Brittany3137668948oi]

Hi! ok so I have been using the denoise button on some event photos with a high iso. I was super imperssed with the results and almost done with the edits when the denoise button stopped showing the rresults for all of them. I have no error messgae just the yellow ai button flahsing if i want to update. ive pressed it a few timess but to no avil. the photos are still grainy. am i missing something?

[Aleke]

Hi @GeMoMo, welcome to the community!

When you have a moment, could you share a quick screen recording showing your workflow and where the issue comes up? That would really help us understand what’s going on and how best to assist.

Thanks so much!
Alek

[johnrellis]

@GeMoMo, many have encountered this bug, not yet acknowledged by Adobe:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

You could try rebuilding the .lrcat-data file, which helps some but not all:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the primary thread for this issue:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[johnrellis]

"I have no error message just the yellow ai button flashing"

Many have encountered this bug, not yet acknowledged by Adobe:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

You could try rebuilding the .lrcat-data file, which helps some but not all:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the primary thread for this issue:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[GeMoMo]

@Aleke Thx for yr reply. What I can do is share with you the history of my editing for that particular image. Would that help you? But pls advise is there an easy way I can copy the history of just this photo to avoid having to take multiple screenshots?

[Ramona Maier FD]

Witnessing the same issues since weeks and I'm honestly pretty pissed by now. I work with the latest update of Lightroom and OS system. I am loosing vulnerable time. @Aleke 

[Aleke]

Hi @GeMoMo! If you get a chance, it would be super helpful if you could send us your Catalog file (the file with the .lrcat extension) so we can do some further testing. You can share it with me via DM using a file-sharing service like Google Drive, WeTransfer, Dropbox, or whichever you prefer. Really appreciate your help with this!

Alek

[Aleke]

Hi @Ramona Maier FD, welcome to the community! I’m really sorry to hear you’re running into similar issues, I totally understand how frustrating that can be.

We’ve seen a few more users reporting the same problem with having to constantly update their masks, so I’ve gone ahead and merged your post into the main thread to keep everything in one place.

If this sounds like the same issue you’re experiencing, it would be super helpful if you could share your catalog file (with the .lrcat extension) so we can take a closer look. You can send it to me via DM using any file-sharing service you prefer, like Google Drive, WeTransfer, Dropbox, etc.

Thanks so much for your help with this!

Alek