Lightroom Classic won't save preset and masks

Report · Nov 19, 2023

Hi, Im at a total loss. In the last 4 weeks, none of my edits will change in lightroom. I am applying the preset I have used before, making some masking edits and I then copy these edits and paste them onto the next image. When I go back to the previous image, it has an exclamation mark and says 'Some AI masks need to be updated'. It wont save any of them. it is so frustrating and i have uninstalled the app and nothing changes.

Please help - I have 3 sessions i have to edit for clients!

Report · Nov 19, 2023

There have been scattered reports about this. LR stores the computed AI masks in the file "<catalog>.lrcat-data" in the catalog folder. If LR can't write that file, e.g. because it got corrupted somehow or has the wrong permissions, then you'll get the notification that the masks need updating.

Troubleshooting steps:

1. Ensure LR is granted Full Disk Access (not Files And Folders) permission:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-give-full-disk-access...

Without Full Disk Access, LR can do all sorts of screwy things. If this doesn't fix the problem, then do the following:

2. Do Catalog Settings > General > Show, which will open the catalog folder in Finder.

3. Exit LR.

4. Rename the file "<catalog>.lrcat-data" to "<catalog>.lrcat-data.old".

5. Start LR.

6. Go to Library, click All Photographs, select all photos, and do the menu command Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings. That will recompute the AI masks on all your photos, which could take a very long time.