lightroom classic collection disappeared after importing files to external disk

[Eain]

lightroom classic .   My collections disappeared after importing files to new  external disk.  The photos are there ok but there seems to be no option to make new collections in the panels.  Does lightroom not transfer the collections you have made?

[Mod: Moved to the Lightroom classic forum]

[Ged_Traynor]

@Eain this is the Photoshop forum, try the Lightroom Classic forum instead

[Eain]

Thank you. I will Eain

[AxelMatt]

.. My collections disappeared after importing files to new  external disk.  The photos are there ok but there seems to be no option to make new collections in the panels.  Does lightroom not transfer the collections you have made?

By @Eain

What does "after importing files to new  external disk." mean?

Please describe more detailed what you want to achieve and what you've done.

Do you like to move existing pictures that already in the catalog to a new external hard drive?  

[Eain]

Thank you for your reply Axel. Sorry I was not clearer.
I had all my existing photos on drive E (internal disk) which was nearly
full. I bought a 4tb external disk H and connected it up. I used
lightroom to import the photos. They all went on to H ok organized by
folders as they were on E. However the collections which I had assembled
within drive E do not appear on H. I was wondering if Lightroom does not
transfer collections.
Also normally beside the create new folder option there is another for new
collection. That option seems missing in H

Eain

[AxelMatt]

As I understamd you right you have all photos copied and the new hard drive and then imported again to Lightroom? Is this right?

If yes you have done that in a new catalog. Because LR doesn't import duplicate photos.

Collection are stored in the catalog and in a new catalog this collection aren't included.

The best way would have been to copy the whole structure from the old hard driv to the new one and connected the new drive with the drive letter of the old drive. In this case you can use the LR catalog without any changes and any problems.

If its possible and the old drive still exists, it is worth considering transferring the whole pictures again to the new disk.

More infos you'll find here:

How do I move only my photos to another hard drive, leaving the catalog where it is? | The Lightroom... 

[dj_paige]

The photos are there ok but there seems to be no option to make new collections in the panels.  

Show us a screen capture of what you see regarind "no option to make new collections". Use the "Insert Photos" icon to include your screen capture in your reply. Do NOT attach files.

Does lightroom not transfer the collections you have made?

Not sure why you are talking about "transfer" in this sentence, no "transfer" has been previously mentioned. Please explain in a lot more detail, and give us background of what this transfer is.

[Eain]

Thank you for your reply By transfer I meant copied the collections I had
made in drive E to Drive H[image: Drive H.png]

[dj_paige]

By transfer I meant copied the collections I hadmade in drive E to Drive H[image: Drive H.png]
By @Eain

This still requires more explanation. Collections in LrC don't exist on a specific disk, you can't copy them from one disk to another. And what does this have to do with importing files?

[Eain]

I had thought that collections were just linksI had made between photos
that had something in common. eg travel and that I would see them appear on
a new disk when oved the nother disk when space began to run out. Clearly
I was wrong Eain

[dj_paige]

So (am I understanding you right) you want to move photos to another disk, but maintain all of the information in the LrC catalog?

Please read these instructions. I strongly recommend you use Option 2. Please note that there is no importing in this process; in fact importing is the wrong thing to do.

[GoldingD]

I had thought that collections were just linksI had made between photosthat had something in common. eg travel and that I would see them appear ona new disk when oved the nother disk when space began to run out. ClearlyI was wrong Eain
By @Eain

see:

• https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/photo-collections.html
• https://mastering-lightroom.com/organize-photos-lightroom-collections/

[GoldingD]

What is your exact LrC version?

V13.5?

If I remember correctly, many versions back a bug existed involving collections going missing. Solution was to create one new collection, close LrC, then Open LrC, and the missing collections would show up. Fairly sure that was fixed. Fairly sure it affected a small number of users. Very sure this is not occurring in v13.5.