Missing Local Folder in Library of Lightroom Classic 11.0.1

[Lars2741997099oh]

I'm really sorry to trouble everyone... I think I've done something really stupid but I don't know what or how to fix it???

I save my photos from my camera to a 'YEAR' / 'MONTH-DAY' folder structure on an external HDD. As I copy them in, I import them into Lightroom Classic and tinker with them there.

Yesterday I did something and managed to, for want of a better word, disappear my ‘2021’ folder with about 3500 photos.

Image 1 shows what I currently see in the Library:

There should be a ‘2021’ folder between ‘2020’ and ‘2022’ containg the 3500+ photos.

Image 2 shows that the folder structure and all pictures are still on the external HDD as they should be:

I thought I’d just restore a backup of my catalog from a few days ago… but this too does NOT show the ‘2021’ folder. In a blind panic I tried restoring multiple older backups but they too did not show the '2021'... it's like I've switch it off or something?!!

Any suggestions as to what I’ve done or how I can fix it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks everyone.

[dj_paige]

Click on All Photographs in Lightroom Classic, then using the search features in Lightroom Classic, search for one of the photos that should be in the 2021, by file name or by capture date. If you find it, then you can see where it "moved" to. If that doesn't turn up anything, then maybe the folder was deleted from Lightroom Classic accidentally, and you will need to recover it from recent backups of your Lightroom Classic catalog file.

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

If you go to 'All Photographs' then you can activate the Metadata filter. Make sure you have a 'Date' column (you can add, remove and change columns). That will quickly show you if you have any images in your catalog that were shot in 2021. If you do find such an image, then select it and choose 'Photo - Go to Folder in Library'. Lightroom will now show you where the folder of that image is in the folder panel.

[Lars2741997099oh]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply.

Having followed both of your advice, i fear i may have done something a little more catastrophic than simply 'hiding' the '2021' folder:

 

It seems there are no records of any photos being taken in '2021' 😞

Am i right in thinking that a previous backup of my catalog (pre- whatever disasterous thing i did) should hold references to that '2021' folder and all the adjustments that i carried out on certain photos from that folder?

Many thanks everyone

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

Am i right in thinking that a previous backup of my catalog (pre- whatever disasterous thing i did) should hold references to that '2021' folder and all the adjustments that i carried out on certain photos from that folder?

By @Lars2741997099oh

Yes, that is correct.

[Lars2741997099oh]

Many thanks @dj_paige for the clarification... let the hunt begin!

[Rob_Cullen]

FYI, If you can find a Catalog in Backups that contains the 2021 photos, you can do a selective merge of the 2021 data to the current catalog-

1) In the 'old' catalog: Select the 2021 folder and [Export as a Catalog]

2) In the 'current' catalog: [Import from another catalog] and select the 'Export catalog' from step #1.

The Lightroom Queen has a blog article on this topic-

RESTORE PARTIAL from backup catalog?