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Can't find my most recent, working catalog

New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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I clicked on a photo to Find it, and LR opened the photo in a different catalog.  But then when I tried to get back to the catalog I've been using, that has thousands of photos in it, I cannot find it!   I have opened every .lrcat I see, either on my desktop, where I keep them, or on icloud, or even searching on my entore Mac's HD.  NONE of the catalogs I opened are current.

 

Where could it have gone, and how do I find it again?

LR is version 6.10.1 - yes, I know it's old, but it works just fine for my purposes.  Or it HAS anyway.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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In Lightroom, use

File->Open Recent

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New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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YES - that's what I did - opened every one shown there and none of them were the current catalog!

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LEGEND ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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Use your operating system's search feature to search all hard disks for all files whose name ends with .LRCAT. Open each one found in LrC until you find the one you want.

 

Or, you can restore a recent backup of your catalog file.

 

From now on, you need to know what folder your catalog file is stored in, and what the catalog file's name is.

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New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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I've opened every single lrcat going back as far as 2008, and none of them are the current catalog.   it's just not there.  Been using this "new" catalog since 2019 and now all the photos I've taked since then are gone.

 

I do have a complete backup of the computer on cloud - I guess it should be there. Is there a way to access just the lrcat from the cloud backup?

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LEGEND ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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Been using this "new" catalog since 2019 and now all the photos I've taked since then are gone.

 

Your photos are not in the catalog. They are on one of your hard disks, somewhere.

 

When you looked in the catalogs, how were you searching for recent photos? Did you use the Filter Bar and search by date?

 

I do have a complete backup of the computer on cloud - I guess it should be there. Is there a way to access just the lrcat from the cloud backup?

 

Cloud — be more specific.

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New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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All my original photos are still on my hard drive, but no lrcat for recent photos.

THe cloud backup is the "Time MAchine" backup that apple does, and stored both on iCloud and on an external hard drive.  

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LEGEND ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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Find the Time Machine backup, unzip it (if necessary), and then put it in whatever location you want and then double-click on it to open it.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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Another but weaker way that might help

 

in Lr6, /preferences/general/  Default Catalog, set that to Prompt me when starting Lightroom

Close then restart Lr6, note the dialog, hopefully more than a few catalogs are offered, A limited number of previously opened catalogs will be shown, does one look like the correct one?

 

If you have already tried several, the one you want might not get displayed.

 

 

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New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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Well, thanks, but that didn't do it either.  It shows 15 lrcat files, but none of them are the right one.  Many backups of older catalogs.   It's just too weird that the catalog would just disappear.  It has to be there someplace.

 

TIme to open TIme Machine & try that.  

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New Here ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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EUREKA!!!!!!   I found one that I hadn't tried - there are so many & so many with very very similar names!  I think I need to change the name of the current catalog to something similar - like "THE RIGHT CATALOGSTUPID"   -  will changing the name cause other problems though?

 

(I wish I could go back to punch cards again!)

 

 

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Community Expert ,
Nov 24, 2021 Nov 24, 2021

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LATEST

A Catalog rename has to be done outside of Lightroom. It is also necessary to rename the folders for

{Library Previews} and {Smart Previews} to include the same basic name as the Catalog.

1. Close Lightroom-Classic  (or Perpetual Versions 1-6)

  1. Rename the file {oldname.LRCAT} to:          {newname.LRCAT}         
    3. Rename the folder {oldname previews.LRDATA}   to:       {newname previews.LRDATA}
    4. Rename the folder {oldname smart previews.LRDATA}   to:        {newname smart previews.LRDATA}
  2. Restart lightroom-Classic by opening the file (Double-click on the file):         {newname.LRCAT}


(You will only see the Smart Previews folder if you've chosen to generate them.)

 

Regards. My System: Lightroom-Classic 13.2 Photoshop 25.5, ACR 16.2, Lightroom 7.2, Lr-iOS 9.0.1, Bridge 14.0.2, Windows-11.

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