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johanb89817280
johanb89817280
Participant
January 23, 2018
Answered

Removing corrupted photos from library

  • January 23, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 3107 views

I had a hdd crash and let professionals restore it. They managed to save 80% of the images. But now i really need to remove those 20% of just blank out images with the black exclamation mark on it. They are sitting there like dark sad reminders of all the photos i've lost. Is there a way to bulk remove all damaged images?

    Correct answer Rob_Cullen

    Darn! Spoke too soon. There is still blank images in the library. When i click the black exclamation mark it says

    "Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo. You will not be able to make adjustments to the photo"

    Any way to single these ones out too?


    If you see blank previews, but not marked as 'missing', there is no automatic way of filtering for the problem files.

    There remains the possibility that your Previews cache has become corrupted, hence showing blank images, or the 'Professional Restore' has corrupted some files.

    It may help to let Lightroom re-build the Previews.

    Details to do this can be found at-  https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-says-preview-cache-corrupted-fix/

    (Do NOT delete your catalog file   xxxx.LRCAT )

    Failing a Preview re-build, it might just have to be a visual selection of problem previews and choose to [Remove] them from the catalog (if possible!). Do not [Delete from disk] as you may be able to try and Import them again if the originals are by some luck OK.

    2 replies

    K
    Kostas04
    Participant
    February 5, 2025

    Thank you ALL for your great recommendations!!!

    I am trying to remove thousands of damaged photos too.  Unfortunately the advises here are quite tedios and manual.

    What I did was to use Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder to scan my library and remove damaged photos automatically. Generally that tool is for finding similar photos and organizing your images, but it lists also the damaged/corrupt files in your collection at the ends of the scan so you can easily remove them. The good thing that it support all popula image formats including RAW.

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 23, 2018

    I suggest-

    1) Go Menu > Library > Find all Missing Photos

    2) Select all  [Ctrl+A]

    3) Visually scroll through and check that these are the previews you want to delete.

    4) press [Delete] and [Remove]

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
      johanb89817280
      johanb89817280Author
      Participant
      January 25, 2018

      Thanks WobertC. 3134 images gone. Broke my heart seeing the empty five stars ;(

      johanb89817280
      johanb89817280Author
      Participant
      January 25, 2018

      Darn! Spoke too soon. There is still blank images in the library. When i click the black exclamation mark it says

      "Lightroom has encountered problems reading this photo. You will not be able to make adjustments to the photo"

      Any way to single these ones out too?

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