After Import, the folder shows as empty in Folders panel but Finder shows the images are there.

[Alex Ragen]

Recently, whenever I import photos the directory in which they are supposed to wind up shows as greyed out and empty in the Folders panel (on the left), but in Finder I see that the photos are actually there in the directory. No filters are active. Lightroom Classic 15.0.1 on MacOS Tahoe 26.1. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[JohanElzenga]

Most likely you used 'Copy' at the top center of the import dialog, so Lightroom copied the photos to another folder and only shows those copies, because only those copies are in the catalog. That's a common mistake. If you want to import images and keep them in their current folder, then you must select 'Add'.

[Alex Ragen]

Hi—
Thanks for your reply. Actually, I used Copy as DNG.
—Alex
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Alex Ragen
alexfstop@gmail.com
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[dj_paige]

A couple of points to make, in addition to what @JohanElzenga said:

Lightroom Classic is not a file browser like Mac Finder or Windows Explorer. It does not have to show the same arrangement of photos in folders as Mac Finder or Windows Explorer; and the most likely reason for that is user mistake, where as stated the user has imported via COPY instead of ADD. So LrC knows about the Copy in some folder somewhere, and it doesn't know about the original photo in the folder you are looking at in Mac Finder or Windows Explorer.

You need to find these photos in Lightroom Classic. Please follow all four of these steps in the Lightroom Classic Library Module, in order.

1. Click on All Photographs (its on the left under Catalog)
2. Turn off all filters (Ctrl-L once or twice)
3. Expand All Stacks (Photo->Stacking->Expand All Stacks)
4. In the Filter Bar, search for a photo by File name

Once you find them, we can provide instructions for fixing LrC so that the file now appears in LrC in the folder you want, that matches Mac Finder or Windows Explorer.

[Alex Ragen]

Hi—
Thanks for your detailed reply. I’m not sure I explained the problem correctly. The files are in the correct directory. I confirmed that in Finder. The problem is that in the LRC catalog, the directory is there but no files are in it. I was able to edit them by using the Previous Import. My question is whether the catalog is corrupted and if so what can I do about it.
Thanks again for helping me.
—Alex
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Alex Ragen
alexfstop@gmail.com
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[JohanElzenga]

We understood you perfectly, and this looks like what I described. In fact, you confirmed that you used Copy (as DNG). Select one of the photos in 'Previous Import' and choose 'Photo - Go to Folder in Library'. Lightroom will go to the folder where the DNG copies (those are the images you see in Lightroom) are stored.

[JohanElzenga]

To explain what happened: if you use 'Copy as DNG', then that is what Lightroom will do. It will make a DNG copy of the original photo, place that copy in the destination folder that you specified, and import the DNG into the catalog. It will not import the original that is still in the original folder! Because Lightroom is a database application and not a file browser, it will also not show the original in that folder. That folder itself may be shown in the catalog (if it has been used before), but even if that folder is shown in the catalog, then the original images will not show because they are not (and should not be) imported. So what you see and edit in Lightroom are the DNG copies, and they are stored in another folder.

[dj_paige]

I’m not sure I explained the problem correctly.

Yes, the problem was explained properly. The solution I gave above will help you find the photos, from there we can advise on how to fix the problem.