LR won't find photos when I search with keywords

[defaultrpgqlsn5dq89]

I have tried everything I have read from “Nesting words” to “Hierarchy” etc., etc. Nothing works!
Is there a simple explanation as to why without a huge in depth jargon?

I have the latest version of LR Classic for Windows 11 (Updated today)

I usually attach (or so I thought) keywords to my images when importing them or soon after.

Also, other issues are that the search shows 1 image that has nothing to do with soccer and does not have those keywords attached to it. Only 2 images appear to be available in the Family folder, but there are Thousands of images in that folder.

One thing that LR always does well is its ability to confuse me! 🙂

Thank you! 

[DClark064]

I believe you are searching all searchable fields in a single folder.  LR is finding all files that have any of the keywords you entered.  The file it found has one of the keywords you specified.  It's working like it should.

I suggest the following.

1. Don't use text, use metadata.

2. When the metadata panel opens use the pull down menu to select keywords. 

Then select one of your keywords from the list of available keywords.

3. If you want to narrow the search with a second keyword, open a second column by right clicking at the extreme right side.  In the second column, again select keywords and then add your second keyword.

4. Keep that up for as many keywords or other selection criteria (e.g. date, camera, etc) as you may want.  The columns form logical AND criteria.

I hope this is clear.

[defaultrpgqlsn5dq89]

Thank you. That solution gave me some results. Apparently I need to be searching in COLLECTIONS, not in FOLDERS, for this tool to work. Unfortunately, most of my images reside in folders, and I thought that somehow it would be easy to do a search in those folders and find the images I needed. I guess it will be a long process to put all those images in collections first. Thank you, so much, for your time and help.

[DClark064]

There is no need to use collections.  The method I described works fine on any folder, or the "All Photographs" selection at the top.

[JohanElzenga]

Thank you. That solution gave me some results. Apparently I need to be searching in COLLECTIONS, not in FOLDERS, for this tool to work. 

By @defaultrpgqlsn5dq89

No, you need to realise that you will always search in the selected container, regardless of whether that container is a folder or a collection or a smart collection. You if you want to search through all photographs, then just select 'All Photographs' first. The only exception is if you use a different search method: if you hover your cursor over a keyword in the Keywords Panel, then you will see an arrow behind the name of said keyword. Clicking on that arrow will search for this keyword in all photos, regardless of where you are.

[GoldingD]

You appear to have selected a folder named All Images, in a hard drive named K, as opposed to the collection named All Photographs(that you have noted)

[defaultrpgqlsn5dq89]

Thank you.
Somehow, when I go to the root folder where all the images are, the folder does not show any images in it at all until I start opening the folders inside. I don't know how that happened, nor how it works. But, when I start opening the folders, then I can find my images using the text search. 

[JohanElzenga]

The root folder itself won't contain any photos, only its subfolders do. You need to enable the 'Show Photos in Subfolders' option in the 'Library' menu.

[Eris33018001vvd0]

1. Check Keyword Spelling and Tagging: Ensure that the keywords you're using are correctly spelled and appropriately tagged to your photos. Double-check that the keywords are applied to the photos you're trying to search for.

2. Library Module: Make sure you are in the Library module of Lightroom when performing keyword searches. The Library module is specifically designed for organizing and searching for photos based on metadata.

3. Metadata Panel: In the Library module, on the right side of the screen, you'll find the Metadata panel. Expand this panel and check if your keyword is "Soccer" and it is listed under the "Keywording" section. If not, you may need to add it to your photos.