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J
Jacek Poplawski
Known Participant
October 17, 2024
Question

photos disappeared from the catalog after the upgrade

  • October 17, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 3896 views

I upgraded to new Lightroom few days ago and it asked to upgrade the catalog.

Most of the photos are still there, but some folders are empty.

I still see folders in LR, but they have no photos.

 

I clicked on "synchronize" and it see over 2000 photos, but sync does nothing, it says no photo to import and folder is still zero.

How can I access my photos? What is wrong with them?

 

I have big catalog with about 500 000 photos (many many years), folders by year "2024, 2023, etc" then folders by date (like 2024.10.15) if that matters.

4 replies

J
jzt123
Participant
February 28, 2025

I am having the same problem - so frustrating and now I don't know what to trust with LRC.  Random folders have photos missing and I can't find where LRC has put them.  I see the thumbnails, but no photos linked.  I have not moved anything from previous locations and the same workflow was followed for other folders which (currently at least) appear fine.

    J
    Jacek PoplawskiAuthor
    Known Participant
    October 21, 2024

    I decided to create new catalog.

    First I imported some of the folders which disappeared from previous catalog, and they work, so it's not about these folders or these photos, it must be problem with converted catalog from old LR to new LR.

      M
      Manuel_Carrillo3837
      Participant
      February 19, 2025

      Happened to me as well.
      Even though I'm recovering older catalogs, with 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 folders (I use the same system as you)
      LrC forces the upgrade catalogue, and it still imports the "newest". Basically, all from the first half of 2024 and back, it gets deleted from the catalogue. Don't know what's wrong with LR. The issue is not to add them again manually, the thing is all the labels/tags, edits, on every photo are lost!

        D
        drtonyb
        Legend
        February 19, 2025

        @Manuel_Carrillo3837 

         

        Can you explain a bit more about what you did and what you have done since?

         

        From which version of catalog did you upgrade?

         

        Do you still have the original catalog from which you upgraded?

          I
          intelligent_Glimmer5FE9
          Participant
          October 17, 2024

          If photos disappeared from the catalog after an upgrade, there are several possible causes and steps to troubleshoot:

          1. Check Backup: Ensure you have a backup of the catalog or photos before proceeding with troubleshooting.

          2. Relink Missing Files: The photos might not be missing but instead disconnected from the catalog. Use the "Locate Missing Files" feature in your photo management software (e.g., Lightroom) to reconnect the images.

          3. Catalog Rebuild: Sometimes, an upgrade may corrupt the catalog. Rebuilding or reindexing the catalog may resolve the issue.

          4. Check Import Settings: The upgrade could have reset your import preferences, causing new photos to be stored in a different location. Verify that the images are still in their original folder or search for them in alternative directories.

          5. Software Bugs: If the upgrade introduced a bug, check for updates or patches released by the software provider to fix known issues.

          6. Permissions Issue: The upgrade could have altered the permissions on the catalog or photo directories. Make sure you have the proper read/write access.

          7. Customer Support: If none of these steps work, contact the software's customer support for further assistance.

           

          [Link that looked like spam removed by moderator. The text looks like it was generated with AI...]

          J
          Jacek PoplawskiAuthor
          Known Participant
          October 17, 2024

          upgrade to LR 14.0.1 didn't help

          JohanElzenga
          Community Expert
          JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 17, 2024

          Try this: Open your catalog folder and delete the 'Catalogname Helper.lrdata'. Then launch Lightroom Classic.

           

          -- Johan W. Elzenga
          J
          Jacek PoplawskiAuthor
          Known Participant
          October 17, 2024

          hello!

           

          well I have following files:


          lightroom_2024.01.12 - modified in May
          lightroom_2024.01.12-v13-3 - modified in October
          lightroom_2024.01.12 Helper.lrdata - modified in January
          lightroom_2024.01.12-v13-3 Helper.lrdata - modified in May

           

          ah but that's a folder! inside there are files from October

          are you sure removing it is a good idea?

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