Lightroom CC folder panel not aligning with Finder

Question

I am using Lightroom CC on a MacBook Pro running OS X Mojave.

Recently I've noticed that when I select a photo in LR and then edit it in Photoshop using 'Edit in Photoshop', and then click Save, LR saves it in the right folder as shown in Finder but on the LR folder panel the file appears in a folder with the same name but in a different location. To give an example, I have a file in a folder called 'Negatives copied' inside another folder called D810 photos which itself inside my Pictures folder. When I save an edited file in the Negatives copied folder it appears to create another Negatives copied folder in LR at the same level as Pictures and shows the edited file there, despite the fact that the file is shown as correctly saved in Finder. When I try to drag the file to the correct folder in LR it gives me an error message saying the file already exists there.

As far as I remember this problem did not exist before I upgraded to OSX Mojave. Could it have something to do with that? Would be grateful for help in dealing with it.

Thanks in advance

Javed

JohanElzenga · Accepted Answer

I think you have hit the nail on the head! When I follow the 5 steps given by WobertC it simply creates another 'Negatives copied' folder at the same level as 'Pictures', as before. Doing a 'Show Parent folder' on this gives the following

But when I do a 'Show Parent folder' on the 'D810 photos' folder shown on top I get the following error message

I get the same error when I try to do a 'Show Parent folder' on the 'Pictures' folder.

Digging deeper I checked the path shown for the 'Negatives copied' folder in the LR folders panel is:

/Users/JavedShakoor/Pictures/D810 photos/Negatives copied

But the path shown for the 'Negatives copied' folder which is in the wrong place (i.e. above) is:

/Users/javedshakoor/Pictures/D810 photos/Negatives copied

From the above it looks like the name for the Home folder (javed shakoor) has somehow been capitalized in the LR panel. What do you think is the best way of correcting this? I am hesitant because it's the Home folder we are talking about. The error message seems to indicate that maybe something is wrong with the catalog (lrcat) file.

Sorry about the long post but I couldn't think of any other way to explain the problem.

Thanks a lot

Javed

Yes, the problem is indeed your Home folder name. The good news is that you can still fix it by following the instructions carefully. Do it with that second ‘D810’ folder (the one that appeared when you selected ‘Show Parent Folder’), because that is as high up as you can get. The bad news is that this is like taking an aspirin when you have a headache. The pain may subside, but because the underlying cause is not cured it may come back anytime.

By the way, this is not a problem that is created by Lightroom. It is something at the OS level. Basically, what happens is that you have two different home folders, where the names are the same, except for the capitalisation. Because MacOS and Windows are case-insensitive, your OS sees those two folders as one and the same folder and so it deals with this without you even being aware of it. You will only see one version. But Lightroom is case-sensitive, so Lightroom does see two different folders.

dj_paige · Answer

Most likely the Capitalization Problem. Even if that's not the exact cause, it can be fixed via these instructions: Re: Catalog - same photos, same location but shown twice

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