Lr needlessly generating XMP sidecar for ALL imported photos

[alxb49009547]

After the latest update to Lr 13.2 & Camera Raw 16.2, i noticed all my photos folders have been populated with an xmp file for each image file, even those unedited! All these new xmp files have the same date of creation, May 1st, which around the time i updated Lr. 

The Lr option says "Automatically write changes into XMP" not generate a pointless sidecar for every imported photo, and i've had that checked for years, it seems it's only after the last update that it went crazy with it. 

And now, some photos in the catalog even have an alert icon saying the xmp settings have been changed outside of Lr (which can't be, i haven't even looked at them after the bulk import, much less edit them in some other software).

Does anyone know what this is? Is it a bug or the intended way the new Lr update is supposed to work? I didn't mind a few xmp files (so that i see the same edits in CR and also as backup) but now doubling the number of items in each folder for pointless xmp files is crazy. And i can't even delete them as i don't know which ones actually have edits and which don't.

My Lr version is 13.2, Camera Raw 16.2

and i'm on an iMac Retina 21.5", 2017,

Processor: 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

Graphics: Radeon Pro 560 4 GB

[dj_paige]

Are you applying a preset at Import? These would be "changes" that should be written to XMP (if the option is checked).

[alxb49009547]

Nope, nothing applied at import. I haven't changed any setting, and it was behaving normally until the last update.

[JohanElzenga]

> And i can't even delete them as i don't know which ones actually have edits and which don't.

You can always delete them if you don't want them. XMP sidecar files are extras, and are not used by Lightroom. They are just written to XMP (if you want to) for use in other apps. Lightroom itself only uses the edits and other metadata that are saved in the catalog.

[alxb49009547]

Yes, i know i can delete the xmp files and i won't lose the edits in Lr, but i was keeping them mostly as backup and sometimes to show me the same edits in camera raw 🙂 So if i want to keep just those ones,  i can't only delete the useless ones without edits, unless i go through each photo one by one and see which one has edits (that i'd want to keep the sidecar for) and which ones don't. My Lr catalog has about 20k photos 🙂

[rotorglow]

This is happening to me too, with LR Classic 13.3.  XMP files for about 30K images (on a spinning hard drive) that haven't been touched in months or years are being resaved for some reason.  My latest plan is to let it finish and hope LRC doesn't decide it needs to do this again.

[DdeGannes]

The option is located in Catalog Settings> Metadata> Automatically write changes to XMP.

It stands to reason any "change" made at import to Metadata, edits etc will generate an XMP sidecar for RAW images. Example, if you create keywords, Copyright etc a XMP sidecar will be automatically created,

[rotorglow]

Yes, I'm aware that IF I had made any changes to these old photos (note that I'm not talking about during import), and the Write Changes To XMP checkbox was checked, there would be new XMP files written out.  

What's happening to me (and the OP as far as I can tell) is different.  Write Changes was enabled, but out of the blue Lightroom was going through 20-40K OLD EXISTING images and writing new XMP files for no apparent reason.

Turning off Write Changes has fixed the problem, and probably should have been off from the begining, but for the current images I'm working (which sit on an SSD), it's preferable to have Write Changes enabled for my needs.  What's confusing and unwelcome is LIghtroom deciding the other 80K images in my library had changed through no action of mine.

[Per Berntsen]

but for the current images I'm working (which sit on an SSD), it's preferable to have Write Changes enabled for my needs.

By @rotorglow

When you have finished editing these images. select them in Library, and go to Metadata > Save metadata to file.

Or press Ctrl + S (Windows), Cmd + S (Mac).

If you do further edits or add/change any metadata later, you have to repeat the command.

[rotorglow]

Indeed.  That's what I used to do beforehand, and now once again after needing to turn off Write Changes--still not my preferred way of working, but better than the alternative.

I gather that nobody else has encountered the bug the OP and I have been writing about?

[Per Berntsen]

I do use the catalog setting Automatically write changes into XMP, but since I routinely convert my raw files to DNG, I might not have noticed that kind of bug. One of the reasons that I use the DNG format is that XMP metadata is written to the file header with no need for sidecar files.

The OP uses a Mac, are you on a Mac too? Could be a Mac only bug. (I'm on Windows, LrC 13.1)

Have you tried resetting the preferences?

Come to think of it, I would have noticed it, since all my image files are in Dropbox folders, so any changes to the DNG files will require them to be re-uploaded. And uploading 54,000 DNGs would take a long time.

[DdeGannes]

@rotorglow 

Quote "What's happening to me (and the OP as far as I can tell) is different.  Write Changes was enabled, but out of the blue Lightroom was going through 20-40K OLD EXISTING images and writing new XMP files for no apparent reason."

There was a relatively significant change made in LrC 13.3 / 13.3.1 updates relative to the Sync to Adobe Creative Cloud process. While I was checking errors in my synced Collection on my Lr Mobile app iPad there were prompts to update some profiles in older collections, maybe this might have been a cause for what you are experiencing.

A good practice would be to turn off auto update for LrC / Lr Mobile and opt for notifications when an update is available. This way you can check what changes and bug fixes will affect your workflow, for instance the completion of the new Sync with Adobe Creative Cloud can take a few days to complete successfully.
Just some thourghts.

[DdeGannes]

@alxb49009547 , Try the option available at import to use "Embedded and sidecar" then the import process will not use an Adobe White balance setting which will constitute a change and create an XMP sidecar. You can view the import in the Library module and this will change when you select the Develop Module, then "As shot WB" will display in the History panel.

I have not verified on my system since I will not select the Option " Automatically write changes to XMP" since that would cause multiple XMP files on my system.
There is also another thread reporting a bug with respect to " As shot WB" showing in the history panel which happens when "Embedded and sidecar" is used at import.

It is my opinion neither of these issues are "bugs".

[johnrellis]

@alxb49009547 and @rotorglow, you're probably tripping over this bug:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-save-metadata-to-file-doesn-t-always-set-met...