lightroom big problem

[lorrettah49963057]

I had the older version of lightroom on my laptop, which i was not using anymore because I upgraded to the new version which you have to pay monthly for now.  I was searching through pics on my external hard drive and clicked on a old catalogue which then changed my current lightroom to the old version.  I have no idea where is went.  All the stuff I had on there currently is gone.  How do I get the new version back??  I'm freaking out because it was all set up with my website and I have a bunch of photos and collections set up.  HELP!!!

[JoeKostoss]

Most likely by clicking (Double Clicking) of the old catalog, Lightroom opened with that old catalog.  Your new catalog should still be on your computer hard drive.  From the Lightroom Menu, go to File>Open Recent.  You should get a list of recently used catalogs; the one with the check mark is the one currently open.  Select the other to see if that gets you back to where you want to be.

[lorrettah49963057]

Thank you for your help.

[Rob_Cullen]

You have opened an old catalog. The 'stuff' you had is not gone, it will still be available when you can locate and open the 'new version' catalog. (Like address books, you have opened an 'old' one from the bottom of the drawer)

You can open catalogs by doing this from the Lightroom "File" menu-

[Open Recent] will show a list of Catalogs that Lightroom knows about.

[Open Catalog] will open a Finder window where you can search folders to locate the catalog files (.LRCAT)

Or with Lightroom closed you can "Open" a catalog by finding it and double-clicking on the .LRCAT file.

Post back if you have more questions.

[lorrettah49963057 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for responding, when I get off work I will try those suggestions. Thank youX

Sent from my iPhone

[KR Seals]

Which version of LR did it open?  It's possible you still have older catalogs and older versions of LR installed, like LR5 or LR4.