after import, all photos not showing up

[danielg29610782]

I am new to Lightroom and for the first time have imported my photos from several years of work.  After what I thought was a successful import of a few thousand photos, however, not all my photos are available despite the fact that Lightroom did not indicate any errors from the import process.

For example, one folder (KANE_CHRIS) in Lightroom indicates "60" photos, but when I right-click and get info on that folder in Lightroom, the info dialog box that appears indicates "197 items." Please see screenshot.  I also checked my old version of Bridge, and all 197 photos (all .jpg) are in fact all visible there, so I am confused as to what is going on in Lightroom.   I tried to import the photos again from the same folder in the finder and Lightroom indicates thinks the photos have already been imported and wouldn't let me proceed.   

What do I need to do to see all 197 photos?  How do I ensure that no other photos are missing from other folders? 

Any ideas would be appreciated.   Thank you.

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

It sounds to me like you (accidentally?) imported some photos using the COPY option rather than the ADD option, so the photos in KANE_CHRIS that don't show in that folder in Lightroom were copied by Lightroom to some other folder.

To find these photo in Lightroom, search for one of them in Lightroom using these steps:

1. In Lightroom's Library Module, click on All Photographs on the left under Catalog
2. Turn off all filters (Ctrl-L once or twice)
3. Use the Filter Bar in Lightroom, search for one of these photos by File Name
4. Right click on the photo, select Show in Explorer (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac) to see what folder it has been copied into

IMPORTANT CONCEPT: Lightroom is not a file browser! It does not have to (and in many cases will not) show you the same thing as your operating system.

[Rob_Cullen]

Also some hints-

1. Check the option in the menu-  Library>Show Photos in sub-folders

2. Can you click the folder triangle to show sub-folders?

[danielg29610782]

Thank you for your response!  I am learning ...

[danielg29610782]

Thank you for your response!  Very helpful