Unable to see any of the collection when i try to open the LR project in another system

[ak-r]

I had Macbook Air with sonoma 14.5 in which i used lightroom classic .I backed up everything including all the source images in an external drive.

I try to open this project in my another Macbook Air M1 with same sonoma 14. 7 & updated lightroom 14.2 as iam a member of adobe cc .
Even when the catalogue gets update while lightroom open my saved LR project . iam Unable to see any of the colletion which i made spending so much of time as have 1000s of photographs.

I have followed the tips given in general to ensure we have the proper cataloge with all collection in tact . i dont even get missing link or folder yet i have this issue. How to get all my collections back in order . kindly suggest . Thanks in advance.

{Moved from Lightroom Cloud to Lightroom Classic Forum by Moderator} 

[ak-r]

Kindly read as collection wherever i mistyped colletion. typo. sorry.

[CMass]

Hi @rasaGRAPHY, 

It sounds like you're working between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom (cloud-based), which are two different programs that can sync when manually set up. To better understand your situation, I have a few clarifying questions:

1. When you say you backed up everything, what exactly does that include?
2. Are you opening the same catalog, or did you create a new one?
3. Can you share a screenshot of what you're seeing? If possible, a video walkthrough would also be helpful!

^CM

[ak-r]

Thanks for the response
I work with Lightroom Classic only.

1. The entire LIGHTROOM PROJECT is in external drive & with that only i try to open the same in another macbook air which has the lightroom classic. screenshot 01
2. Made a safe copy of the entire catalogue to another drive THEN opened lightroom with this source project folder.

3. All my source files/images are also in the same folder. screenshot 02

3. But unable to see my "collections" which i have made spending so much of time. screenshot 03
Please note. Screenshots attached  are numbered in that order. 01 02 03 .

Thanks a lot for your support.

[JohanElzenga]

Your source images are in a different folder path, because you added 'Copy from source 01' to the folder name. The result is that the Lightroom Classic catalog needs to be reconnected to this path. Another problem may be that you use a different label set, because you did not copy that correctly. The collections screenshot you show are smart collections, not normal collections. These populate by criteria, so if you did something that changed the criteria (like using a different label set), then that shows in those collections. See: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

[ak-r]

thanks for the response. please explain this "Your source images are in a different folder path, because you added 'Copy from source 01' to the folder name."                                                                                         While working in my earlier macbook air m1 I worked/ saved everything in external folder & did not change anything in that LR Classic Project folder . I connected that drive & did open the LR project in another macbook air. Yet i could not see any "collections " in the Lightroom. so where is my mistake in this approach. Thanks.

[ak-r]

The default name itself is "'Copy from source 01"  . That's the way i named for my reference. so i repeat i have not changed anything . i only connected the drive to another computer of the same model & opened the same lightroom classic project . yet the collection set are missing.Thanks.

[JohanElzenga]

Can you specify what is missing? Your screenshots do not show that. Show screenshots of the collections on the old computer and the new computer, so we can see the difference. And please do not attach screenshots, but embed them in your message, so they are visible inside the message. Use this button:

And please read the link I gave you if you haven't done so yet. Simply connecting a disk to another computer that has Lightroom Classic installed, does not bring over certain settings, such as custom label sets. Also explain how you open what you call 'projects'. Lightroom Classic has a catalog, not a system of projects. By default, the catalog is located on the internal disk.

[ak-r]

I have this lightroom classic project folder from my Timemachine backup ( macbook air m1-sonomo 14.5) . screenshoot 01
As informed earlier i have the entire source files ( all the images ) too .screenshoot 02
With this how should i setup the LR Project where i can retrieve all my “collection” & also continue to work the same in Lightroom classic .

Thanks
AKR

[JohanElzenga]

I believe you are confusing folders and collections. These folders should be shown in the folder panel. That is the physical location of all the images. Collections are lists, like the playlist of a music player. An image can be added to multiple collections, but you do not have to add an image to any collection. So I still do not understand what you think is missing.

[ak-r]

Thanks. I know about folders. I am only saying huge colletions which i have  made are "missing" when i open the same lightroom project in another macbook air ( as my previous MBAir is not with me ). so the question is how come my collections are NOT seen in the lightroom & how to get it back. Thanks for the responses.

[JohanElzenga]

Please show screenshots of the 'project' on both computers. We need to see with our own eyes what seems to be missing to better understand the problem.

[ak-r]

Thanks a lot for the support.
But i have already informed that i dont have the macbook air in which i did my lightroom project where in the original images/LR project files are in external drive. 

when i connected the same drive to another macbook air M1 & opened the very same project ( i did not do any change in the LR project or with the folders) the project opened could see all the the images BUT unable to see all the “collections” which i made spending lot of time.

so my sincere question is “ how to get back all the collections “ back to my lightroom projects. Thanks .

[JohanElzenga]

Sorry, without seeing a screenshot that tells me what is missing I can't help you. Last attempt: Do you see the collections panel at all, or is the panel itself missing?

[ak-r]

Sincere  thanks. Please refer two images. Hope that would give some idea about my collections are NOT seen.

[JohanElzenga]

On the left the panel is simply collapsed. Click on the little triangle on the left of the word 'Collections'...

[ak-r]

Thanks. I have done that .

In my earlier post I attached two screenshot which shows the panel before the collapse and after the collapse. Yet the collections are not seen.

[JohanElzenga]

Sigh. So why on earth did you post this screenshot? What is the purpose of posting a screenshot of just the panel header when you know that this doesn't illustrate the problem? I'm giving up, because this is only wasting my time. I can't help you. I hope somebody else can.