photos disappeared from the catalog after the upgrade

[Jacek Poplawski]

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.

[Jacek Poplawski]

upgrade to LR 14.0.1 didn't help

[JohanElzenga]

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

[Jacek Poplawski]

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?

[JohanElzenga]

Yes, it is safe to delete the "lightroom_2024.01.12-v13-3 Helper.lrdata" folder. Lightroom Classic will simply rebuild it. Move it to another folder (so you can move it back) instead of deleting it, if you are unsure about this. The other one (lightroom_2024.01.12 Helper.lrdata) is old can can be deleted too.

[Jacek Poplawski]

I removed helpers but I don't see any change in behaviour

When I click on the folder in library and click SYNC it says there are 3051 new photos.

Then I click SYNC, it tries to import them and then it shows NO PHOTOS TO IMPORT (it's in Polish so I am guessing translation)

Looks like these photos are imported but are missing somehow in the new catalog?

[JohanElzenga]

No, it looks like these photos are already imported, but they are in a different folder. That happens if you used 'Copy' on import. When you choose 'Synchronize Folder', Lightroom initially thinks they are not in the catalog (because it initially only compares the folder contents with what the catalog says about this folder), but when it checks further before importing them, it discovers they are already present elsewhere.

[Jacek Poplawski]

I think I never used this option to copy, my worflow is always the same: I manually copy photos from camera to my hard drive then later I import them to LR.

Also in your scenario photos would be visible in LR, they are not.

Problems appeared after upgrade to new LR so it must be broken catalog conversion. Later I will try creating new catalog.

[JohanElzenga]

I'm sure you never intentionally used copy, but making a mistake is only human. Of course it is also possible that the catalog upgrade did not go correctly, so trying that again is a good idea.

[Jacek Poplawski]

My point is that I fully control where files I stored, so it's simply not possible for LR to copy them to the new place without my knowledge. Also this happened for multiple folders. I just wonder am I only one with this issue.

[JohanElzenga]

And my point is that I assume you are human. If you import photos that are already in the folder where you want them, then you will use 'Add' at the top center of the import dialog. But if that selection got reset to 'Copy' and you didn't notice that, then they will be copied to another folder. Anybody can make that mistake. Anyway, I am not here to argue with you. If you do not believe that this could happen to you, then don't believe it.

[intelligent_Glimmer5FE9]

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...]

[Jacek Poplawski]

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.

[Manuel_Carrillo3837]

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!

[drtonyb]

@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?

[jzt123]

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.