Solve your sync problem

Report · Feb 01, 2025

I had been having a two way sync problem from LRC on macOS synching to the Cloud, and then down to my iPad Pro and my iPhone 15. The sync counter on LRC would halt on a certain number and not continue. I had been working with support and had two major sessions on chat (2+hours), with two different support techs. The sync would not continue after it hit 600 images. After the two separate 2 hour sessions, the problem was solved. Perhaps what I went through will provide a short cut for you.

Problem identified: I had caused the problem by shutting down devices that had sync in progress. In some cases it will warn you that the device is going through sync, but doesn't explicitly say that shutting down during sych can cause sync problems later. So the bottom line is to NEVER shut down a device that is syncing. Remember all syncing is done through the cloud -- not between individual devices.

Comments / Suggestions:

Cool down before you chat with support: I was so upset, frustrated, and angry at Adobe that I was too irrational to talk to support. So I waited until the next day. Time does wonders...

Reset your expectations: For some problems be prepared to spend 2-3 hours on chat. Don't think a tough problem is going to get solved in 10 minutes.

Trust the Chat medium: Even though the techs were located in India, I was impressed with their ability to read and write in English. Communication problems were not a hinderance. In my opinion, chat is my number 1 choice for communication with support. The chat is then saved and provides automatic documentation of what was done.

Another expectation reset: Forget tying to get back to the same tech you started with, their system discourages this. However I found that the 2 hours I spent with the beginning tech was well documented by the chat, so later when I started another chat, the new tech spent a few minutes reading the documentation provided by the first tech and was armed with good information and was ready to proceed and build upon the prior work that had been done. We did not have to start from scratch. Make sure and have your existing Case Number handy before you start the chat

Here are the steps to the solution in my particular case:

Complete all preliminaries: have all products at current release and version levels, including the OS on MAC and mobile devices.
On Mobile devices start the Lightroom App, but PAUSE SYNC on each mobile device.
In LRC -->Library -->Find all missing photos. If there are "disconnected" photos they will appear here. Click on each photo and re-link to the correct photo. The system will help you search for the missing ones. After you re-link that photo will disappear from the "Missing photos" view. You need to resolve all of them or delete them.
In lightroom.adobe.com check for photos in "Clean Up" view. Review and delete. This view should be empty when you are through.
In lightroom.adobe.com highlight all photos in the "Deleted" tab and delete them permanently.
In LRC-->Preferences-->Lightroom Sync, go into Sync Activity and delete all entries (Right click on each one, "Delete in Cloud" will appear, then confirm delete. You will have to do this one at a time.
Close and re-open LRC. Now the sync should begin decrementing after a few minutes. The sync should proceed normally until all images are sync'd.
On your mobile devices start sync again.
Test as you see approriate once the sync is done in LRC