Photos Missing from LR Catalog; Not in Designated Folders in Apple Finder

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 12, 2022
2 replies
340 views

Six consecutive months' of my photos, organized in some 25 date-identified folders and stored on my Macbook computer can no longer be found. The images, some sharp and some blurred, appear in the Library function in the current version of Lightroom, but cannot be modified or (presumably) exported. The relevant folders in Apple Finder have no contents.

In contrast, photos taken since late 2019 and stored on my Mac computer, are available, as are photos taken prior to that period and stored on an external hard drive.

Attached is a screenshot of the photos in Library mode.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

macOS

This topic has been closed for replies.

E

ExploreAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks John...

Following your directions, the images pop up but only as locked single images. Any way to get them back into Lightroom?

Roger

JohanElzenga

Community Expert

The search that John suggested locates the image(s). You do not have to 'get them into Lightroom', because they are already imported. You just have to tell Lightroom where to find the images, now that you know where they are. You can probably do that by 'relinking' to top folder. Here's how: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

-- Johan W. Elzenga

E

ExploreAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks. The link takes you through a sequence of what-ifs, but to cut to the chase I can state that the original folders still exist, without question marks in the Lightroom library. However in Finder those folders contain no contents and the displayed photos in Lightroom are just previews with exclamation marks. Backups and unpurged memory cards don't exist.

Can someone confirm that trying to save the previews is the only game available, and that a plug-in eases the process? Since the linked article dates from 2014, can someone suggest an up-to-date plug-in if things have changed?

johnrellis

Legend

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

Perhaps the missing photos got accidentally moved somehow. Use Finder to search for six or so of the missing file names:

Be sure to select This Mac, and make sure any external drives you've used for your LR photos are connected.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded