"This file appears unsupported or damaged" – Corrupt or Lightroom Error?

[Ben Thornley]

I’ve had this error message appear over a couple of images today in the Develop module. When I switch over to Library and back into Develop the error is no longer there, edits can be applied and the photos export with no issues.

Has anyone else experienced this error being only temporary? It might lead you to believe the file is corrupt when it is actually fine.

If a simple restart or module switch is all Lightroom needs to correct the issue then it should present some options alongside this error message to the user such as “reload”, “attempt to reread file” – if this doesn’t work then perhaps “reimport and replace.”

Over the last year I've had this error message pop up from time to time, using different SD cards, but never had it before so it seems to be a recent issue.

Lightroom Classic 13.5. MacOS Ventura 13.0.1

[GoldingD · Accepted solution]

If that occurs again, consider purging the Camera RAW CACHE (in /preferences/performance/)

Speaking of CACHE, what is your setting? can you share a screenshot of /preferences/performance/

[Ben Thornley]

Thanks, I've hit Purge Cache now and will do this more often. In Performance the only thing I've modified is enabling "Use GPU for Export"

[GoldingD]

Where (what drive) do you keep your photos on? Is that drive damaged? Is that drive disconnecting?

[Ben Thornley]

Always in desktop folders on the Mac until editing is complete to avoid issues with external drives disconnecting