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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!
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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, which have helped many with these symptoms (but not all):
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.
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Hi John,
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I have already removed that .lrcat file multiple times, rebuilt AI settings multiple times, and even created a new catalogue with an Adobe rep and nothing has seemed to fix this.
I have lots of client work and even if that worked the masks and generative fill isn't always a good fit the first time so batching the updating AI settings is not ideal because then you still have to go through all the photos and make sure you don't miss something weird.
Lightroom and my macOS are fully updated, I tried reverting back a couple versions with the rep with no luck.
I'm at a loss for what to do as it really kills my workflow to have this issue. Not to mention being a huge time waster.
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That's unfortunate -- you're one of the unlucky ones for whom that magic spell doesn't work. I don't have any other suggestions.
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I also didn't mention I'm on a M4 MacBook Pro. I'm wondering if that has something to do with it?
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Hi @Shelemiah Thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear about the problem you're facing.
To help us get a clearer picture, could you tell me more information about the issue like
You can try out these fixes while we wait.
Let us know how it goes.
Thanks a lot!
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Hi Noel,
Sure I have attached what you requested below.
Is this issue occurring with certain RAW file types, image resolutions, or very complex combinations of AI edits?
RAW file types, I don't change the type so I always shoot full RAW files. We use a Canon R6 & a Canon R6 M2 for our work. I have experienced this with the files from both cameras. Image resolutions I think is the same, nothing changes there as well.
The edits range from simple to complex, but the issue happens even with just a simple remove circle with no generative AI turned on. I just tested it and it keeps healing brushes fine, but it is anything with remove, generative AI or AI masking options. (Which makes sense being that it wants to update AI settings :P)
When did you start noticing this issue, was it after an update or any changes to your computer or Lightroom?
I can't exactly recall when I started noticing this issue, but it has definitely been a few months. It may have coincided with me upgrading the M4 Pro MacBook Pro, but I honestly can't remember if I was experiencing this with my old machine or not. Sorry.
Additionally, Since this is a peculiar problem a screen recording of your workflow and the issue would be incredibly helpful. You can share via Google Drive, WeTransfer, or another public file-sharing platform with your response.
I did have a previous chat with an Adobe rep and he took control of my screen, would you have access to those notes and are those recorded so you can see the issue? Happy to record a screen recording if you are unable to access my account or previous chat.
Cheers!
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Sorry somehow I didn't see the bottom part of your post with other suggestions.
You can try out these fixes while we wait.
- Verify Full Disk Access: You can refer to this Helpx article for steps and further information. Allow Permissions to Lightroom Classic on macOS
Ensure that Adobe Lightroom Classic (and any related Adobe processes like CRLogTransport or Adobe Desktop Service) is listed and toggled ON.
If it's already on, try toggling it OFF, restarting your Mac, and then toggling it back ON.
- Lightroom has full disk access. (I have toggled and restarted a few times)
"any related Adobe processes like CRLogTransport or Adobe Desktop Service" - Where do I find those things to turn them on?
- Check Folder Permissions: Navigate to the folder containing your Lightroom catalog (.lrcat file) and your image files. Right-click the folder(s) and select "Get Info."
Under "Sharing & Permissions," ensure your user account has "Read & Write" privileges.
- All read & write privileges are correct.
- Disable "Optimize Catalog" During Backup (Temporarily):
As some users reported this as a potential trigger for AI issues, when you next backup your catalog (Lightroom Classic > Catalog Settings > Back up catalog), if you have "Optimize catalog after backing up" checked, try unchecking it for a while to see if it makes a difference.
- Tried this as well, but it doesn't change if I backup or not, each time I quit and restart Lightroom they break unfortunately.
- Reset Lightroom Preferences: Sometimes corrupted preferences can lead to various issues. You can refer to this helpx article for mor information and steps. How to reset Lightroom Classic preferences
- I will try resetting preferences, I don't think I have done this.
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Tried resetting preferences, that did not work unfortunately.
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Hi @Shelemiah,
Thanks for trying the suggestions. The issue you are facing is similar to the one posted on this community post https://adobe.ly/43jIY6Y
Would you mind trying the Alek suggestion there and see if that works for you?
Let us know how it goes.
Best,
Anshul Saini
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I tried this (https://adobe.ly/43jIY6Y) solution suggested by @Aleke, and it worked. Only issue is having to do this for thousands of photos is not really a solution - but I am glad something worked. How can I prevent the data file from getting corrupted? Is there any evidence that this is an adobe bug with the new update?
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@nicolemarcellephotography: "I tried this (https://adobe.ly/43jIY6Y) solution suggested by @Aleke, and it worked. Only issue is having to do this for thousands of photos is not really a solution"
Akele's post says, "you'll need to update all your masks". To update all photos' masks at once, see step 6 of the post above:
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.
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Hi @Shelemiah,
Thanks for trying the suggestions. The issue you are facing is similar to the one posted on this community post https://adobe.ly/43jIY6Y
Would you mind trying the Alek suggestion there and see if that works for you?
Let us know how it goes.
Best,Anshul Saini
By @Anshul_Saini
I had tried this previously, multiple times, actually. I even restarted my computer in between reopening the catalogue to see if that would help. No luck.
But I wonder if the steps outlined in the post you mentioned by Alek, being followed by Noel recommending to reset preferences, made something click. It seems to be working now, fingers crossed.
Now unfortunately all the AI generative tools and AI masks since the start of the year now will be broken and it isn't as simple as batch rebuilding them because some of the generative AI spots don't look right with the first option. So I will just have to do a case by case basis on those I suppose.
So for anyone having the same problems, I had a hard time finding solid answers but here are the steps that seemed to help:
- Follow all the steps in Noel's post to make sure those basics are out of the way
- Then follow the steps in the post by Alek that is linked above by Anshul.
but was willing to try it again and I wonder if it worked in conjunction with the preferences reset mentioned earlier.
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@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.
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@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.
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@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.
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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. 🙂
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@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?
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Hi John,
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I have already removed that .lrcat file multiple times, rebuilt AI settings multiple times, and even created a new catalogue with an Adobe rep and nothing has seemed to fix this.
By @Shelemiah
You don't move the .lrcat file. You move the .lrcat-data file.
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Sorry, that was just a typo. I can fix that in my post.
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We are having this same issue suddenly/out of no where and it is a killer for workflow when editing 1000 images for a wedding. Hoping to find an answer here too!
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@Christina A24239111s52s, these steps have solved the issue for most (but not all):
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