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Giovanni Stoto
Known Participant
August 13, 2025

P: v14.5 Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo | Round circle ‘!’ warning on Images

  • August 13, 2025
  • 80 replies
  • 7294 views

OS: Windows 11
LrC VERSION: 14.5

A couple of days ago I upgrade to v14.5.
As for every update, I regurlay empty cache, optimise catalog, remove all previews and generate new standard ones (also, I wanted to test how was was the new option to use GPU for generating previews).
Never had a problem with this workflow.
After previews generation process was completed (1h 30m for 29.000 files, 23.000 jpegs and 6.000 raws) I got an error: for 21 RAWs the preview could not be generated. Looking in the catalog at those files, I realised they have an exclamation mark on a dark circle: this is not the missing photo mark. If I click on the exclamation mark, I see error "Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo, you are not allowed to edit this image. "

Yet, I can still enter develop module and edit the photos without any problem: the editing history is there, I can zoom in at 100% (generating the 1:1 preview), I can change sliders, export... Everything... (PS: I do not use smart previews).

 

The 21 problematic photos are in different folders and have different dates.
The files can be opened by any other program, including Fast raw Viewer.

For a couple of problematic photos, I tried deleting the photos from file explorer, and the square light missing photo question mark replaced the round dark question mark.
I restored the files from three sources:
1- the original file
2- a backup from a second HD
3- a backup from Amazon Photos


In all three cases above the black round exclamation mark came back: this should prove that it's not a problem of corrupted files, I instead believe it's an issue in LrC.

    80 replies

    Rikk Flohr_Photography
    Community Manager
    Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
    February 20, 2026

    Greetings all,  

     

    A new update for the Adobe Photography products has been released.  The February update contains an update regarding this issue. 

    If you do not see the update in your Creative Cloud Application, you can refresh it by pressing  [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ].

    Note: It may take up to 24 hours for your update to be available in your Creative Cloud app.

     

    Thank you for being so patient.  

    Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org
    Twistedtree
    Twistedtree
    Participant
    February 20, 2026

    V 15.2 showed up in CC and I installed it.  No difference.  I still get the “!” in the thumbnail and “Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo” error.

     

    The problem is only in the Library view.  I have a very grainy preview and the “!”.  If I select the thumbnail in Library view and then switch to Develop, the image opens fine in full resolution.   If I then switch back to Library View, that one image is now clear and full res, but the “!” is still there.

     

    Twistedtree
    Twistedtree
    Participant
    February 19, 2026

    I’m running Lightroom Classic V 15.1.1 on a Mac and this problem is NOT fixed.  From LR I can right click and Edit the file in Preview and it opens fine.   I can also right click and Open in Reference View, and that opens the file just fine.  If I then return to Library for the catalog, the image now open to full resolution, however the ! mark is still present on the thumbnail.

     

    Come on guys, this really needs to be fixed.

    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Legend
    February 20, 2026

     

    [View this post in your web browser. It contains formatting and images that don't appear in email.]

     

    ​@Twistedtree this really needs to be fixed.

    Others who reported these symptoms in LR 14.5 confirmed that LR 15.0 fixed the issue for them. So you may be running into a variant of the bug that wasn’t fixed or a completely different bug with the same symptoms.

     

    I recommend you start a new bug report:

    Be sure to include precise steps for reproducing the problem -- if Adobe can’t reproduce the problem, they won’t file the bug report internally.  In this case, also select the problem photo, do Metadata > Save Metadata To File, and then attach both the raw file and its .xmp sidecar to your post.  

    R
    remov_b4_flight
    Known Participant
    November 16, 2025

    in LrC15.0.1, Issue still exists. 'opmize catalog' nothing helps me.

    M4MBA,24GB,macOS26.1

    jm68902488
    jm68902488
    Known Participant
    November 16, 2025
    Yes the issue is still present in vs. 15

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    Bob Somrak
    Bob Somrak
    Legend
    November 9, 2025

    @Giovanni Stoto 

     

    The Nov 8 import was the first time it happened but I know to keep watching for it now!!

    M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB
    G
    Giovanni StotoAuthor
    Known Participant
    November 9, 2025

    I am the one who discovered this and reported here for the first time: for me the problem has disappeared.

     

    Now, as senior IT professional I can state that THIS IS NOT A GRAOHIC CARD ISSUE BUT AN ADOBE ONE: if version X of a software works and suddenly, with no other changes, version X+1 does not, then it's a software problem, probably yes related to the graphic card but still a problem of the developer.

    adamw31442428
    adamw31442428
    Participant
    November 9, 2025

    ..another though.  becouse the problem is appering randomly   I checked also the Tuning options of Graphic card & disabled  the +200Mhz  automaticly tuning  that has worked well for last 18 Months 
    >>>  mayby there is kind of instability since Lightroom utilise more & more Graphic card power ???

     

    adamw31442428
    adamw31442428
    Participant
    November 9, 2025

    this Annoiyng  issue apper on my system randomly on HDR Images only   if Graphic Card Support is activated
    >>  afte rdeactivation both of options  iot seem to work
    >> must e bug in graphic driver 

    newes WINDOWS and neest drivers

    Bob Somrak
    Bob Somrak
    Legend
    November 8, 2025

    I finally had a 12 photo import that had the first photo with the ! in the black circle.   Odd bug 

    M4 Pro Mac Mini. 48GB
    Bob321
    Bob321
    Known Participant
    November 7, 2025

    I have updated my version to
      Lightroom Classic version: 15.0 [ 202510171722-44f87028 ]
      with Internal Camera Raw version: 18.0 [ 2389 ]
    on 02.11.2025 and the problem did not reappear so far.

      G
      Giovanni StotoAuthor
      Known Participant
      November 6, 2025

      Mmmmmhhhhh interesting...

      I have been editings a few pictures with intersecting masks and no issues so far

      jm68902488
      jm68902488
      Known Participant
      November 8, 2025
      it seems to be an issue with one of my catalogues vs. some of the other
      ones. I have optimized the catalog a few times since but still being an
      issue on the one catalog

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      Virus-free.www.avg.com
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