P: AI Masks Require updating and/or disappear

[Shelemiah]

Hello,

I recently had a call with Adobe support with no luck. I have found some threads on this but nothing presents a solution and it seems hard to find what the actual issue is.

If I edit a client gallery and use any healing brush tool or AI masking tool, the mask or healing brush/generative AI will get a red dot underneath after going back to the start of the gallery, my AI edits are gone....

I also noticed this happens 100% of the time when I quite and reopen lightroom, I can fix the mask, update ai settings but it just resets each time I open lightroom.

We tested a new catalogue, we tested a bunch of things with no luck. 

We really need a fix on this Adobe it is killing workflow, not sure what broke this setting. I can't revert to an old version because I have lots of photos (I do 1 catalogue per year) and can't go back weeks of client work.

Also this catalogue was started at the begining of 2025 so there is no version 13 of this catalogue to revert to and test.

PLEASE HELP ADOBE!

[sarahnelsonphoto]

For about a week in LrC the AI masks that I create appear to be fine but then don't show up when exporting or disappear when you click the image and say the settings need to be updated.  I have tried what was suggested on a previous thread of moving the catalog to the desktop.  I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the LrC.  I have tried doing the "update AI settings" by selecting all in the library grid mode.  Yet still I'm left unable to deliver galleries beacuse I cannot finalize my edits unless I export each image individually, which just isn't feasible since I work weddings.  Can someone please help with this ASAP?

[kglad]

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community bugs">

[Kelsey33039702axpj]

I've been having this issue too, which is very frustrating. I tried John's fix but was unsure about some things so I reached out to Adobe in the chat feature. Some things I'll note: 

-This may have been clear to others, but not me: You're not moving your actual catalog to the desktop. You're going into that folder to find the data file that ends in .lrcat-data. THAT is the file you move to your desktop.

-When you then attempt to open LrC, you'll get an error message because of the missing data file. Click continue.

-YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MANUALLY UPDATE EVERY PHOTO!!! Select all photos in the folder, click "Photo" from the top tab/panel, Select Develop Settings > Update AI Settings. 

[johnrellis]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge this with the main current thread on this topic:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-need-updating-constantly-eve...

(or lock this thread to prevent further posting here).

[luzye_photo]

Hello software engineering team.

Please help.  I just spent 2 full days editing a wedding and have to redo the work again.  This is the 2nd time this happens, now on a smaller catalog which I had to create after the 1st time this happened back in March.

Al edits such as brushes and cloning are transitory.  Once a user clicks away from a photo, they need to be recomputed, obliterating the user's previous Al edits.  Can this be addressed? It has been happening for months, and creating a new catalog partially addresses the issue.  PLEASE note that selecting all of the images and recomputing AI edits is NOT helpful as it yields random results that do not resemble the previous edits, especially for skin.  Also, please note that this is not an isolated issue.  It is happening to other photographers. Thanks.

[luzye_photo]

From a Facebook group:

"PLEASE HELP. I spend countless hours editing a wedding and have used the lightroom ai remove tool on SO MANY photos, yet none of it saved during export! Did I just waste all of that time?? Has anyone had this happen?? I am crying, I am leaving on a trip and I NEED this wedding to be finished this weekend like what on earth??"

[KR Seals]

Please copy and post your system info:  Menu -> Help -> System Info

The first thing I would do in this situation is to reset the Lightroom classic Preferences.

[luzye_photo]

Thank you!  It is working fine now after I created a new catalog and started my cloning/brushing from scratch. 

Lightroom Classic version: 14.3.1 [ 202505061331-b063faef ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en-US
Operating system: Mac OS 15
Version: 15.5.0 [24F74]
Application architecture: arm64
Logical processor count: 10
Processor speed: NA
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Power Source: Battery, 86%
Built-in memory: 32,768.0 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 988.5MB / 21,845.3MB (4%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 32,768.0 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 9,503.3 MB (29.0%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 438,075.0 MB
Memory cache size: 7,594.4MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 17.3.1 [ 2227 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 6162MB / 16383MB (37%)
Camera Raw real memory: 6457MB / 32768MB (19%)

Cache1:
Final1- RAM:356.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, 2025-06-10 Archie_Erica wedding previews-11.NEF
NT- RAM:356.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, Combined:356.0MB

Cache2:
m:7,594.4MB, n:352.1MB

U-main: 242.0MB

Standard Preview Size: 3456 pixels
Displays: 1) 3456x2234, 2) 2048x1152

Graphics Processor Info:
Metal: Apple M1 Max
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: Auto
Enable HDR in Library: ON

Application folder: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: /Users/luzye/Documents/editing/yetanothercatalog/yetanothercatalog.lrcat
Settings Folder: /Users/luzye/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Aperture/iPhoto Importer Plug-in
3) Flickr

Config.lua flags:

[Aleke]

Hi @luzye_photo!

Sorry to hear about the issues you're having with AI tools. Lightroom Classic stores AI masks and Generative Remove patches in the 'Catalogname.lrcat-data' file. Sometimes, this file can get corrupted or have incorrect preferences, causing edits to need constant updates.

To test this, move the file out of your catalog folder and start Lightroom Classic. You'll see a dialog about the missing data; just click 'Continue'. Lightroom Classic will recreate the file. Now, try updating one of the masks and see if it sticks this time. If it does, you'll need to update all your masks, but hopefully only this one last time.

Good luck! Let me know if this helps. 

Alek

[luzye_photo]

Aleke,

Thanks!  That approach helped keep the AI retouching settings after recomputing them. 

Questions:

1)  What can I do to prevent this from happening again in the future?  Use a new catalog every time?  My catalog back in March contained 80k photos.  Then "this" happened, so I created a new one which worked until yesterday.  This one contained 10k when it stopped working.  

2)  The .lrcat-data file was 3.79 GB.  Is size the problem?  Should I monitor this for catalogs in use?

3)  Most importantly, what is Adobe doing to solve this glitch?  I cannot express how frustrating it was to spend 2 full days retouching and noticing that none of my cloning/brushing changes were present in the exports right before delivering this wedding.

Thank you! 

[Aleke]

Hi @luzye_photo! I'm really glad to hear that my suggestion helped!

Just to share a bit more info—.lrcat-data files can sometimes get corrupted due to a mix of hardware, software, or even accidental user actions. Things like system crashes, sudden power outages, or faulty drives and cables can all play a part. Also, if Lightroom is writing to the catalog and something interrupts it—like unplugging an external drive—it can cause issues. And if you're storing the catalog on a cloud service or NAS, that can sometimes lead to problems too.

Hope that helps clarify things a bit!
Alek

[luzye_photo]

Thanks for the reply again! 

A bit more background info: Both my catalog and raw files are stored on the internal SSD.  While I do have a NAS, it is offsite and only connects upon demand.  I am not using any cloud services, not even Adobe's. I have not experienced any power outages (this is a MBP) or OS/LrC crashes.  Also, there is no network disconnects.

Here are some fellow photographres reporting the same problem within a Facebook group:
"I have friends experiencing this as well after the most recent update. It seems to be a glitch for some and there’s no resolution yet"

"Yup it's a LR bug"

"Same thing happened to me. I called Adobe, and the rep fixed it remotely for me. I didn’t lose the edits either."

"This is a known LrC bug. I export the photos right after each photo as a workaround" 

"inside lightroom click the exclamation point inside the triangle button in top right panel and update all the mask errors. it’ll take a bit but pretty sure you can do it all at once. then re-export."

"

It’s a bug in Lightroom - has been happening to me for months. Don’t worry your work isn’t lost. Close the catalog, create a new one. File > Import from another catalog. Select the folders your previously edited images are in. When it opens you may need to regenerate AI settings. While in library mode, select all > right click on a photo, develop settings > update AI settings.

If you’re having this happen once, it will likely continue happening with new catalogs. So keep these steps handy. Adobe is aware and has said they will be fixing it in a future update."

"wow that is so frustrating, I’m so sorry!!! I haven’t had that happen. Did you create a new catalog? It’s crazy to me they haven’t fixed it yet"

1) And while I can easily create a new catalog every time in the meantime and lose access to old jobs at once, it would be reassuring to know that Adobe has finally ack'd the issue and is working on a solution.

2) I can also force the recreation of the .lrcat-data file and recomputing the AI work as a workaround.  However, this solution still requires for me to delete the skin touchups to generate them again enough times for them to look 'natural.'

Thanks for reading!

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-need-updating-constantly-eve...

[maeganlutz]

All of the suddent today, my lightroom is not pasting masks correctly. For example, I select background, do my edits and then paste to a group of images. It shows the mask pasted, but no edits on the mask and the background is not selected, its just a blank mask. Also, my generative AI removals are disappearing when I come back to an image that I removed something on. 

I did not run an update to LR and it is up to date. What in the world is going on? I have restarted the program and restarted my computer as well.

HELP PLEASE!

[maeganlutz]

Also... I am seeing that it is only doing this on one catalog that I am currently editing. I went back to some old ones, and they are fine.

[Noel Orridge]

Hi @maeganlutz, Thanks for reaching out! I'm sorry for the trouble you're facing.

Could you please share your system info (from Help> System info> Copy and paste it into a text file and attach it to your response)? Does this happen to all the photos or just certain ones? 

While we wait, you can try out these steps:

1) Optimize the problematic Catalog. Go to the File menu > Optimize Catalog

2) Check out the correct answer in this thread: Solved: Re: Betreff: Einige KI Einstellungen müssen aktual... - Adobe Product Community - 15287448

Let us know how it goes! 

Cheers!

Please be sure to use @ before mentioning my username so that I can be notified as soon as possible, and you can get the Help you deserve.

[johnrellis]

A fair number of people have reported this issue. These symptoms can occur when LR can't write the .lrcat-data file for some reason, either because LR has corrupted it or there is a permissions issue. LR stores computed AI settings in that file. Try these steps, which help many but not all:

1. Do the menu command Help > System Info. If you're not on the latest version (currently 14.3.1), do Help > Updates.

2. In LR, do Edit > Catalog Settings > General > Show. That will open Windows File Explorer / Mac Finder on the current catalog folder.

3. Exit LR.

4. Move the file <catalog>.lrcat-data to the Desktop.

5. Start LR.

6. In Library Grid view (not Loupe view), select all photos and do Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings. That will recompute all the AI masks, which could take a while.

Note that this will generate new variants for Generative AI Removes, and you'll have to review them individually to make sure they're acceptable.

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-need-updating-constantly-eve...

[BAP__]

Lately when using the mask feature in lighroom classic it wont save my edit. So, when I click to another part of my gallery and then back to my recent edit, it seems to remove the mask. I will then use the Ai suggestions and it fixes it but then again when i click back to the photo it removes it - is this happening to anyone elses? does anyone have tips on how to troubleshoot or get this bug to stop? Ive waisted a ton of time editing bc ive had to reedit the same photo multiple times because of this and still its not working - anything helps. 

[johnrellis]

Are you using Imagen AI? It has a known bug that causes this -- see here for details:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

If you're not using Imagen AI, see here for a workaround that helps many (but not all) people with these symptoms:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the existing thread:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-require-updating-and-or-disa...

[michelleg7073996]

Lightroom Classic 14.4  - Denoise efficiency problem

I am having to do this update on every photo.  Between this and having to change the Denoise % every single time after it does 50%, so much wasted time.  What am I doing wrong?  How can I change my process to make denoising better?

[johnrellis]

A fair number of people have reported this issue. These symptoms can occur when LR can't write the .lrcat-data file for some reason, either because LR has corrupted it or there is a permissions issue. LR stores computed AI settings in that file. Try these steps, which help many but not all:

1. Do the menu command Help > System Info. If you're not on the latest version (currently 14.3.1), do Help > Updates.

2. In LR, do Edit > Catalog Settings > General > Show. That will open Windows File Explorer / Mac Finder on the current catalog folder.

3. Exit LR.

4. Move the file <catalog>.lrcat-data to the Desktop.

5. Start LR.

6. In Library Grid view (not Loupe view), select all photos and do Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings. That will recompute all the AI masks, which could take a while.

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-ai-masks-need-updating-constantly-eve...

[michelleg7073996]

I don't understand the instructions. I keep my catalog files on my D drive in a dedicated folder for a reason. What does moving it to the desktop do? All of my photos have now been updated painstakingly by me earlier, so I don't have any more to do. I just want to understand what is happening. I do use subject or radial masks, but regardless, almost every time acter using denoise, i first change it to 35. Then this shows up and I update that.

M


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