How to Fix “Folder Is Missing—Please Re-Link” Errors in Your Image Catalog

[Dick_Davis]

Fun with the Catalog.  In my Catalog I have Folders ... too many of them ... with their assigned dates. Some (a lot) of these have a question mark, a year/month/date, and any number (0-150+) of images.  Some of these folders display images, others, a gray box. A message displays "Folder is missing please re-link" I save my finished pictures to an external hard drive. Can I assume it is safe to delete those folders that don't display an/any images   TY

Windows 11

LrC 14.5.1

[Rob_Cullen]

"Can I assume it is safe to delete those folders that don't display an/any images"-  Definately NO....!  Not safe. You will lose all work you have ever done for these images.

My first question is- Where are these Folders located in your computer system?  Internal drive? Attached External drive? Search with File Explorer.

And what do you mean by "I save my finished pictures to an external hard drive."?  Are you moving them within the Lr-Classic Folder panel?

[CMass]

@Rob_Cullen haha. I think we were both working on saying the same thing at the exact same time! <3. 

[Dick_Davis]

Hi Rob, thanks for replying. Ya know, I just don't know enough about LrC and computers. I Import my images into LrC, edit them, and export them to my external hard drive. Maybe they are also in my computer ...?  

You ask "Are you moving them, etc ...."  After clicking File>Export I choose the external folder on my hard drive in the Export window.

[CMass]

Hey @Dick_Davis, 

First and foremost, do not delete anything yet. Lightroom only references the images you import—it does not actually store the files inside the catalog itself.

Before we figure out what’s safe to remove, I just want to confirm:
Are you using Lightroom Classic only, or are you also using the cloud-based Lightroom?

If you only using Lightroom Classic, make sure your harddrives are connected and follow the steps to find missing images here: https://adobe.ly/3MneXNn

^CM

[Dick_Davis]

Hi CMass, thank you for your reply.  You ask "Lightroom Classic only" or "cloud-based Lightroom"  I really am too new to LrC, and I couldn't tell you.  I know my hard drive is connected. 

[Conrad_C]

I save my finished pictures to an external hard drive.

By @Dick_Davis

Question #1: Is that external hard drive currently mounted? If not, it’s normal for Lightroom Classic to display that icon if the referenced external volume is not mounted. If you don’t remember seeing the black circle icon before and aren’t doing anything differently, it’s because that icon was only recently introduced, maybe in the new version 15. But the question mark icons have been there for a while. 

Question #2: If that external hard drive is currently mounted and you know you haven’t changed anything, is the Windows drive letter assigned to that volume the same as it was when the images were imported? If Windows has auto-assigned a different drive letter, then the solution is to manually assign a drive letter that does not change. Then re-link the folders, starting at the topmost level (by right-clicking and choosing Update Folder Location). Because if the underlying folder hierarchy and names have not changed, relinking a top-level folder should restore the entire hierarchy within it in one step.

Question #3: If that external hard drive is currently mounted and you know you have changed the names or locations of any files or folders outside of Lightroom Classic, then that is why their paths are broken. Restore the previous folder/filenames or locations back outside of Lightroom Classic and they should link back up.

If you’ve ever worked with a video editing, page layout, or web site application, Lightroom Classic works exactly like those: All “imported” files are referenced, making it critical to maintain the integrity of file/folder path names and locations.

[Dick_Davis]

Hi Conrad .. thank you for your reply. Your first 2 questions, valid as they are, are beyond my knowledge base to properly answer. If I understand #3 correctly ... when I'm editing images my external hard drive is connected to my computer. I don't change names or locations outside of LrC.  It's clear to me I have A LOT to learn in my LrC  journey.

[Rob_Cullen]

@Dick_Davis  I have read your first post again and still have some questions-

"Some (a lot) of these have a question mark, a year/month/date, and any number (0-150+) of images. Some of these folders display images, others, a gray box. A message displays "Folder is missing please re-link"

So Lightroom-Classic shows these folders in a location it believes them to be- (the drive letter does not show in your screen-clip)

Where does Windows File Explorer show these exact same folders?  Where do you think these folders are located?

How did the folders become missing in the Catalog?  Did you use Windows File Explorer (or a 3rd party file browser eg. Bridge)  to Move or Delete these folders on the hard-drive? Or has the Drive letter (of an external drive) changed? (Happens when you plug in multiple USB devices in a different order)

"I save my finished pictures to an external hard drive."

Lr-Classic doesn't have a "Save" function. Yes you can Export derivative copies that have the edits included, but these are not the images referenced in the catalog. (unless you have added to catalog).

You cannot export derivative images, delete the originals, then expect Lr-Classic to know what you have done.