Can't Import Photos-Greyed Out

[amyp3191]

The other day, I was cleaning up my MacBook and may have deleted some crucial Lightroom files, more specifically, .lrcat files. There is no way for me to restore those files. Tried importing photos onto Lightroom today, and ALL photos are greyed out, and I cannot select any of them to import. Is there any way I can troubleshoot this problem/reset Lightroom preferences without having to reinstall?

Would greatly appreciate the response!

[Per Berntsen]

If the photos are greyed out in the import dialog, it means that they are already imported.

So it seems that you have opened a catalog (.lrcat file) where all these photos already exist.

Can you see these photos in the Library?

[amyp3191]

Thanks so much for the reply! I thought that this might be the case, so I tested it with other photos that have not yet been imported. I still come across the same issue (greyed out images) for those images that have not been imported. Currently, it also looks like all files/photos in my Library are gone as well

[Per Berntsen]

So what does the Library look like?

Can you see thumbnails of the photos?

Are there exclamation marks in the top right corner of the thumbnails, and/or question marks on the folders?

[amyp3191]

This is what the Library currently looks like. No thumbnails and no trace of any existing photos. No question marks/exclamation points like I've experience in the past.

This is what the window looks like when I try to import images:

New images, which I've never imported.
Thanks for your time!

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

That's an empty catalog, so I don't understand why the photos are greyed out in the import dialog.

Greyed out photos can still be identified (you can see the image with a gray overlay), do you mean that you only see gray rectangles?

If so, that's a different problem, and probably not related to the original problem.

Have you been backing up your catalog regularly?

Use the Finder to search your computer for .lrcat files, and open the newest one before the date you deleted the .lrcat files.

[amyp3191]

Thanks so much for assisting me with this Per. I will have to follow up at a later time.

I will def look into those things you just suggested.

Thanks again!