multiple catalogs and not able to sync my previous lightrooms into the newest version

[julinaljub]

I have been having THE WORST customer service experience. The first day I finally got through after waiting 30 minutes for someone to pick up. Only to have that person not really understand what I was trying to explain and kept asking me to hold on and he was refusing to help me explain by viewing my screen so it would be easier for me to explain. He then scheduled another call for the following day because he said this was taking too long, he did call the following day and again nothing was solved. He was suppose to call back the following day after that and he never did. I have been now on hold for 1.5 hours only to have to hang up because I could not wait any longer. When he accessed my computer last time I talked with him he was moving things around and now my most recent lightroom version where I do have my most recent work on is saying its empty. I am beyond flustered and would like to speak with someone who knows what they are doing and can help me with this issue of just verging lightroom catalogs and then deleting old ones and figuring out why my previous light rooms created so many catalogs that is taking up so much space on my hard drive. I run my photography business and this is putting me extremely behind. I honestly do not know what to do or go from here.

[AxelMatt]

Here you find more infos about managing catalogs  in Lightroom

How to create and manage catalogs in Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC

Here you'll find a good series of articles about merging different catalogs:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/merging-catalogs-overview/

[99jon]

Lightroom Classic does not create catalogs by itself. Only the user can create multiple catalogs.

Try from the menu:

File >> Open Recent

If several are listed try opening each one.

[Joe Foe Toe · Accepted solution]

As 99jon said, LR Classic doesn't create additional catalogs. If you were working with different versions in the past, you might have lingering catalogs if you didn't do a smooth migration. Another possibility is that you're looking at catalog backups and that is creating confusion. You will have to sort out what past catalogs have image work you need to merge into what ought to be your one, master catalog. I would start with the catalog you think has the bulk of your most up-to-date work and designate that as the master and proceed from there.

Catalog files have the extension ".lrcat" - one way of proceding would be to open each, taking notes on the name and general contents. If they are not in use, you can rename each with a meaningful name only if that helps ease your confusion. For example "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat" could be renamed to "Weddings.lrcat"

Instructions for merging images from your other catalogs can be found here: Photoshop Lightroom catalog FAQ - scroll  to: "How do I combine catalogs or move photos from one catalog to another?"

A word of warning: don't move images around in folders. If you change underlying image folder structure, you'll have more of a mess on your hands.

As a last resort, consider finding someone local to help you straighten things out. We don't work for Adobe in the Forum, we can only try to help get you on the right path.