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DHPhotography
Participating Frequently
January 14, 2022
Question

Lightroom Classic v11.1 won't Sync with edits made on mobile

  • January 14, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 2174 views

I've been having an issue for some time now where the edits and picked images made in Lightroom on my iPhone refuse to sync back to Lightroom Classic on my computer so I can export them.  Every day that this problem continues just puts me another day behind schedule with delivering galleries to my clients.  I've searched multiple times for fixes and always see the same advice.  I already have my time (my most valuable asset) wrapped up in these edits, and I simply cannot afford to lose the work I've already put in. 

 

Please help me fix this issue, but also please understand that my technical knowledge in this area is very limited.

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4 replies

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DHPhotographyAuthor
Participating Frequently
August 14, 2023

**UPDATE**

 

Since making this post I've found a few things that make this situation more manageable.

 

Firstly, I realized that I have to have all the hard drives connected for every image in my catalog.  So if there was an image in my catalog, but the hard drive was not plugged in, my syncing would get frozen.  I only have two USB drives, so I removed all the images from disconnected drives and the syncs are a lot more reliable.  My selections pretty much always go through.  The edits however....

 

Sometimes the edit doesn't seem to sync, but I noticed if I go into the develop module a "From LR Mobile" appears in my snapshots.  Clicking this sort of manually pushed the edit through.  It's still a tedious process when it happens but it is at least somewhat manageable now.

 

I hope that helps some of you out there!

Theresa J
Community Expert
Theresa JCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 16, 2022

The problem is most likely coming from Lightroom on your phone, not your Classic catalog. To solve this problem you need to determine where the log jam is. Here are three things to check.

  1. Tap on the cloud icon in Lightroom on the phone. What does it say? 
  2. Log into Lightroom on the web and check to make sure nothing is missing. If you see generic icons for some images, that represents photos that never completely uploaded. There could be several reasons for this.
  3. Check the cloud icon in Lightroom Classic. Does it show your catalog is synced?

 

    Carlo UK
    Carlo UK
    Participating Frequently
    January 16, 2022

    Well for me the "Lightroom on the web" sync perfectly with my phone so that is all good. My issue is it wont sync up from my mac to the web. Sits there trying to sync for ever. It was working but since updates its broken. I spent hours trying to repair it once then there was another update and it worked fine. I am sure loads of people has this issue as previously when I researched they did. I shall just wait until Adobe sorts it or someone has experienced and knows a work around. For now I export and then upload to social media. A bit of a pain but I just can spend days on it again.   I believe its an issue with lightroom connecting to the web as its related to the other issue which is common whereby Lightroom and Photoshop is so slow at starting up. Been going on for about 6 months.

    Regards

    Carlo UK
    Carlo UK
    Participating Frequently
    January 16, 2022

    Okay I have sorted it. Firstly I deleted all recent sync photos as I suspect its a dodgy one causing all the issues. That didnt help and I wasnt prepared to delete them all but I am pretty sure a dodgy image has got LR sync stuck.

    I then went to the LR prefernces and to the LR Sync preferences. Hold down the Alt key(iMac) to reveal secret options. I downloaded the "Generate diagnostic Report" and started looking in there as the error should be shown somewhere. I gave up as it was big and I wasnt prepared to spend ages on it. Hence I clicked the other option "Rebuild Syn Data" After which I had to restart LR and turn sync back on. It then resyned and after about 10mins all is good

    Hope this help you guys also.

     

    ....For now anyway

     

    Carlo UK
    Carlo UK
    Participating Frequently
    January 15, 2022

    Same problem for me. I think its associated with updates of either Lightrrom, The mobile app or apple. I find I have to wait until the next update before it works. Went years with no problems now it seems to happen more and more regularly. No I havent changed workflow or any thing. It Adobe or Appple messing it up. 

    KR Seals
    Community Expert
    KR SealsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 15, 2022

    @Carlo UK Your problem may be different. The original poster is using a Windows computer.

    Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
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    DHPhotographyAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 16, 2022

    Correct, I am on a Windows PC.  My catalog seems to have finally finished syncing and that did not fix my problem.  I then updated Lightroom on my Mobile device.  The cloud icon at top right of the screen said it was syncing for a long time.  But it too has finished syncing and my edits still have not synced to LrC. 

    KR Seals
    Community Expert
    KR SealsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 15, 2022

    Has this ever worked properly for you before?

    Is there a chance you are using multiple catalogs? If so, Lightroom Classic will only sync to one catalog. Re-syncing to a different catalog will cause all the previously synced images to be removed.

    Also, In LrC preferences "Lightroom Sync" tab, have you designated a folder where the synced images will go?

    Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.
    D
    DHPhotographyAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 15, 2022

    Thank you for the reply!

     

    This workflow had worked flawlessly for me for years.  It's mostly within the last year and a half or so that I've run into these issues.  The issue started happening on my aging desktop PC, so I bought a new Dell XPS15 at the end of 2020 but didn't officially transfer my catalog from my desktop to my laptop until a few months ago (sometime around August, when my graphics card in my desktop finally died).  To my pleasant surprise, the transfer of the catalog went smoothly and I didn't lose any of my edits.  Life was great for a bit, but now this same problem has cropped up again.  I'm currently trying the trick I've read about where you delete the "sync.lrdata" file and have LrC resync.  I'm hoping this fixes the problem (the edits show up across all our my different mobile devices.  So I'm convinced the edits are in the cloud, but having trouble syncing from the cloud back to LrC.)  I started the sync last night, but I have over 500,000 images in my cataloge so it's taking some time (but getting close!!).  I'll be sure to come back and update when it's finished syncing.  But I'm also open to hear any other idea on how to keep this problem from happening again in the future.

    D
    DHPhotographyAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 15, 2022

    Sorry, I just realized that I didn't really answer your questions!

     

    I do not believe I'm using more than one catalog.  Essentially I created a backup of my catalog from the desktop and opened it up on my laptop and then never turned my desktop back on.

     

    I just checked about the folder for Synced images.  I do not have the box checked to specify a specific folder for the synced images.

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