Catalog, Lightroom Classic

[edirish]

Last night I opened Lightroom Classic CC and noticed that about 1/3 of the folders and sub-folders within the catalog were missing in action. Not grayed out folders or not grayed out folders with question marks, but actual missing folders and sub-folders. Checking further I found several sub-folders that were also grayed out with question marks while the parent folder and other sub-folders attached to the parent folder were fine. The number showing for "All Photographs" was basically correct at 17636 so I could search there and find the needed photos. So the photos are in the catalog but the folders and sub-folders they are in, are missing. No photos were moved or folders renamed before this happened, or after for that matter. Due to the late hour, I waited until this morning to start researching the problem. When I started Lightroom Classic CC today a little notice popped up saying that the Lightroom Catalog needed to be upgraded to work with Lightroom Classic CC. The solution or so I thought. The Catalog was upgraded and I restarted Lightroom only to find the All Photographs number down to 311 from 17646. I have it back on the non upgraded catalog but still have the missing folders and sub-folders problem. How do I restore Lightroom so all the folders and sub-folders are there without having to repeat weeks and week of work re-editing photos. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance

[dj_paige]

Since you can find the photos in Lightroom, right click on one of these photos, select "Go to Folder in Library", and then you will see in the Folder Panel what folder Lightroom thinks the photo is in (you may have to scroll up or down in the Folder Panel to find the highlighted folder).

Sometimes this happens because you ​accidentally​ ​imported the photo using the COPY option and so Lightroom uses the copy it created instead of the original that you want to find.

[chriss40659777]

We had lengthy discussions on this same problem 3 weeks ago. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I have done as you suggest and LR shows the image in the correct folder. But when you leave the folder it becomes greyed out again with 0 images.. There are several instances of this on the drive.

[cmgap]

Please post a screen shot of the library module with the left folders panel expanded and all external hard drives connected... green light visible.

[chriss40659777]

The  example problem is sub-file Photog 9-17 on. LR knows whats in the folder by searching all images, but won't open the folder.

[cmgap]

If there were subfolders in the SE Asia 2014 folder they have been moved. The arrows to the left of the folder name are either dotted or solid. Solid indicates there are subfolders while dotted indicates that the images are directly in that folder. Right click on the image selected in film strip and choose - 'Show in Finder' and also 'Go to folder in library'.

The  example problem is sub-file Photog 9-17 on. LR knows whats in the folder by searching all images, but won't open the folder.

Also the images that used to be in the 9-17 folder have also been moved as indicated by the 0 on the right side of the column. You can move the images back into the folder or delete it.

[cmgap]

The reason why the folder reverts to 0 is that it is always 0. There are no images in it. When you right-click and select 'Go to folder in library' it is going to a different folder. Look on the left in the folder panel to see the path.

[dj_paige]

I have done as you suggest and LR shows the image in the correct folder. But when you leave the folder it becomes greyed out again with 0 images..

Please show us a screen capture of this situation, before you leave the folder and the number reverts to zero.

[chriss40659777]

this image is in a subfolder of Photog 9-17 on, but nothing showing in the catalog

[cmgap]

Hi Chris

Can you

1. Select the SE Asia 2014 folder

2. Tap the 'G' key to switch to Grid view

3. Are you seeing images in the center panel? If yes, Right-click on one and select 'Show in Finder'

4. Note the folder that the images are in

5. The 379 images in the SE Asia 2014 folder are on your Data (E:) drive. They are not in a subfolder. If they were in the past, they've been moved.

6. The Photog 9-17 is on your F: drive and does not contain any images. If you navigate through Explorer to your F: drive, to that folder you will see that it is empty.

[chriss40659777]

Thanks for the thoughts. The SE Asia folder is fine.

The problem I’m using as an example is the Photog 9-17 sub-folder.

Drive F: has the full Photog 9-17 sub-folder with images.

I have re-synched the F: drive several times and it says it can’t find any new images, but the sub-folder still shows 0 images. But the images are there if I search for them using filters.

[dj_paige]

chriss40659777  wrote

this image is in a subfolder of Photog 9-17 on, but nothing showing in the catalog

Either I don't understand what you did, or you didn't do what I asked.

You need to right-click on that photo, and select "Go To Folder in Library" and then show me what folder is highlighted. In your screen capture, nothing is highlighted.

[chriss40659777]

I’m afraid it’s getting confusing: two consultants have taken on my problem simultaneously, yourself and cmgap.

I showed all images, which shows the ones that should be in the empty sub-folder, right clicked on one and was taken to the correct folder on F: drive. Where the correct images reside – that don’t show on the F: drive in the catalog.

I’ve spent about 2 weeks on this problem. It started when I upgraded to the new LR CC (not mobile). I have re-installed LR 2015 and re-created a new catalog. The problem persisted.

Is there any way I can get someone from Adobe to log into my machine and find out what is wrong with the files that are doing this? There are several of them and the problem has persisted across the creation of separate catalogs, which suggests the problem is with my files, not LR.

[cmgap]

Hi Chris - Sorry for the confusion. It's not as bad as you think... the images are in your catalog. It appears they are not where you want them to be and that can be fixed.

You can start a ticket with Adobe support by scrolling to the bottom of this page and clicking on Contact Us.

Adobe Support

BTW- rather than using filters in Lightroom to search for images in the 9-17 folder.... use the Explorer window to navigate to that folder on your F: drive - Please post a screen shot of that.

[chriss40659777]

Thanks, here's the screen shot from explorer. The images are definitely there. You are correct that LR has the images, I just can't find them anywhere.

I can't find a 'contact us' link anywhere. Could you please send one?

[dj_paige]

Chris, you don't seem to have grasped the concept.

Lightroom is NOT a file browser. It doesn't have to show you the same thing that your operating system shows. The folder YOU think the photo is in may not be where Lightroom thinks it is.

So, let's drop this issue that you know where the photo is, let's drop this issue that the file is in the proper folder; and concentrate on where Lightroom thinks the photo is, by performing a simple task, exactly as I specify it. If you do this, we can most likely fix this issue.

That is why I keep asking you to show where Lightroom thinks the photo is. But twice I have asked and you haven't performed the simple task. Please follow thes directions exactly as I state them: please right-click on the photo, select Go To Folder in Library, and then show us what folder in the folder panel is highlighted. Show us a screen capture of the result.

[chriss40659777]

OK. Screen shot below shows LR thinks the images are in my dropbox back-up. Bottom screen shot shows an empty folder where I want/expect the images to be. How do we re-direct the catalog?

[cmgap]

Progress...

Please take a look at this it will likely connect the dots: Lightroom CC – Organizing Your Photographs « Julieanne Kost's Blog

Once you watch this you will have a better understanding of what is going on with your catalog.

[chriss40659777]

It seems that lr will only allow me to access image files from one location. Ie I cannot have a copy of files in dropbox. It will only show the dropbox files.

I have tried copying as per the video, but LR won’t accept the copy into a second location.

[cmgap · Accepted solution]

Do you have 'Don't import suspected duplicates' checked under File Handling? The images are already in your catalog. They are in the SE Asia 2014 folder. You can open that folder in the left panel of the Library module, tap the G key to show contents in the grid view in the center panel, select all of the images (CMD A) and drag them to the folder you want them to be in... we've been working with the 9-17 folder as an example so stick with that for now.

In fact - take only one image and move it this way as a test. Then move the rest. You will see the number of images change as you move them in real-time.

[chriss40659777]

Yes, I can click and drag one image in the library screen. If I try to import from the same folder it is greyed out.

Don’t import suspected duplicates is not checked.

As dragging works on one image, is it possible to drag folders? I have 25 or so that I want on the f: drive, not the E:

[dj_paige]

You can drag multiple photos by selecting multiple photos first before you drag. You can drag folders from one location to another. You do this entirely in the Lightroom Library Module and not in your operating system.

Importing will not solve the problem. This is so important, I state it with emphasis: importing will not solve the problem.

[chriss40659777]

Thanks for your time and effort, the clicking and dragging has got things where I expect them to be at last.

I’ve been using LR for many years and never came across anything like this problem before.

[cmgap]

Yes - it is possible to move folders from the E: drive to the F: drive. Move one folder at a time until you get the gist of it. The reason you are moving them and not importing them is because they are already recognized as being in the catalog.

Check the 'Don't import suspected duplicates' feature as it will help you to keep your catalog organized.

[chriss40659777]

Thanks for your time and effort. The clicking and dragging has got things where I expect them