Issue with upgraded LR Classic catalog

[Scott Udle]

I have used LR4 on an older Macbook for a while and wanted to upgrade to LR Classic.  However, doing so on my old Macbook would require an OS upgrade which I didn't want to do.  

Instead, I used my newer Macbook which already has a compatible OS but did not have any version of LR installed.  I don't think that would be an issue.  I downloaded LR Classic, made a backup of my LR4 catalog to a separate folder, launched LR classic and pointed it to the original catalog (fyi...my catalog and images are stored on an external drive).  When Classic upgraded the catalog it asked me if I wanted to give it a new name, so I did.  Classic then relaunched and pointed itself to the new catalog but it has nothing in it.  No folders, no images.   Hopefully someone here can help.  

[JohanElzenga]

Sounds like Lightroom Classic opened a new catalog rather than the upgraded one. Choose 'File - Open Catalog' and find the correct catalog.

[Scott Udle]

I reverted to LR4 and restarted the upgrade process.  Classic automatically renames the new upgraded catalog so renaming wasn't the problem.  Opening classic now shows me all my images but I have no catalog folders.  However, classic doesn't know where the images are.  Once I point lr to its proper folder then all the images in that folder are correctly linked and a new folder is created in the catalog.  This is exactly what I need but the process is painful as I have to do it for every folder going back years.    

Also, the person at Adobe support was no help.  He/she did not seem to understand my issue so they abruptly left the chat.  Not a good look.  

[dj_paige]

You should not have to point LrC to the proper folder one-folder-at-a-time. If you choose the parent folder and point it to the proper folder, all sub-folders will also be fixed. See Figure 4 here: https://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

[Scott Udle]

I agree I should not have to do this for all folders.  However, my folder list does not have the question marks as the image suggests.  My linked folder will only show up after linking one of the images.

My images are shown in the Catalog section but they all have exclamation marks.  I click this to link to the folder and everything in that folder is fine.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@JohanElzenga's answer is the most likely explanation. You upgraded your catalog and Lightroom did not open it but rather opened a fresh-empty catalog or existing partial catalog.  This can happen is you have a Lightroom Preference file issue, and you store your catalog in a non-default location. 

The solution is to search for your upgraded catalog - it should be adjacent to the Lightroom 5 catalog and open it instead of the empty catalog which is likely sitting in Users>Pictures.  It should not require any additional gyrations, like repointing folders.

[Scott Udle]

This is not the case.  If this were an empty catalog then there would be zero images in the catalog pane on the left side.  I already did as you suggested and I have what looks to be a complete list of my images in the catalog pane.  However, the folder pane only lists my top level folder.  All the subfolders are missing.  

If I go to an image in the catalog pane and link that image to the correct subfolder in finder then that subfolder appears in the folder pane in the correct location.  But I have to do this for every folder and its a pain in the behind.

[Scott Udle]

Problem solved!!

The upgrade process created a duplicate folder structure under a different alias.  Original was called "Images" and the copy was called "Images 1".  I did not notice the copy as I was focused on the properly named empty folder.  

The entire structure was listed in the copy with question marks for the files locations.  All I had to do was right click/locate missing folder and point it to the correct folder and all was good.  Once this was completed for all folders the copy disappeared.  

I am back up and running now.  Thanks to all who suggested solutions.