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Question

Lightroom Classic 10.1 can't Locate files

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 11, 2021
3 replies
564 views

I have a catalog that can't locate files. When I click on the "!" icon to locate the files the images do not connect to the catalog and it and all other files in the catalog disappear from the catalog. I have tried using a back-up of the catalog. The previews will not load and the same thing is happening when I try to locate files. The raw files themselves are fine and open in Photoshop as normal.

Problem or error

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dj_paige

Legend

Show us the screen capture of the Import dialog box when the photos fail to appear.

J

Jim White photoAuthor

Participating Frequently

Sorry for not being clear. The problem is not adding new photos to the catalog. I don't know if there is a problem with that as well as I have not tryed to add new images. The problem is that ALL the photos in the catalog have the "!" icon showing that they are not found. All the folders have the "?" icon showing that they are not found. When I use the "Locate" function for an image or use the "Find Missing Folder" function to connect a folder I get the same result.... the images do not connect and the folder in question has its file count go to zero after trying "Locate" and when using "Find Missing Folder" the folder itself dissapears from the Folders panel. There is no dialog box to take a screen capture of.

When useing either "Locate" or "Find Missing Folder" I easily go through the path to the correct location on the hard drive as I have done many times before over the years. I select the correct image or folder as the case may be and hit the "Select" button. At that time ALL the files in the catalog folder disapear or the catalog folder itself disappears. Again there is no dialog box.

I have just tried this method on a different catalog this morning and I am now getting the same problem again. Luckily the original RAW files are intact. I hope that helps to clairify the situation. Thanks again for the help. I look forward to any thoughts.

J

Jim White photoAuthor

Participating Frequently

I looked everywhere in the Folders Panel but there are no images anywhere. I have used the method I described many times aver the years and the files have always appeared where they belong. I am not trying to identify a new location for the files but I am pionting the software to the location where they have always been. Sometimes this might be because I forgot to turn on the external drive before opening the catalog but this time it just seams to have forgotten how to get there.

To state it another way... when you click on the "!" icon a dialog box always lists the path to the images that it had used before and that is where I go... telling the software what it should already know. I have done it this way since 2007 and I just can't figure out what is different now.

To dj_paige... Thank You for the help. I think I have figured out the problem. While the original RAW files where never moved it appears that the external hard drive had its name changed slightly. It had been called "JW 3TB RAID" but is now called "JW 3TB RAID C" (too many raids around here I guess). So while the files did not move, Lightroom's Folders Panel moved the images to what it thinks is a different drive and that tab was collapsed so I did not see the change.

Thanks again for your help as I don't think I ever would have see that otherwise.

dj_paige

Legend

Screenshots!

And also the catalog does not find the files for you, you have to point the catalog to the photo files. http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

J

Jim White photoAuthor

Participating Frequently

Product: Lightroom Classic 10.1

Mac OS 10.14.6

There is no "Error Message" the catalog just fails to recognize the path to the RAW files and the contents of the folder in the Lightroom catalog simply goes to zero. But no error message occurs.

Screenshots: Not sure what to do there... as I said above there is no message, the files just don't show up and the catalog folder empties.

Hardware: MacBook Pro 15,1 (2019) Intel Core i7 2.6 GHz 16GB RAM

I have used Lightroom since version 1(2007) and Photoshop since version 2.5 (1993) so I'm not new to it but have not had this problem before. I should also mention that the RAW files are on an external hard drive. This is because I can't find a MacBook with 8TB of internal storage. I have done it this way for years with no problem. The problem started with Lightroom Classic 10.0 then I updated to Lightroom Classic 10.1. Thanks for the help. I look forward to any response.

J

Jim White photoAuthor

Participating Frequently

An up-date to the above. I have used the "Locate" feature many times in the past (always successfully) but never used the method of finding the lightroom folder described in the link sent by dj_paige. I used this method, carefully following the directions, and have had a similar problem... as before the images do not linkk to Lightroom and this time rather than the image count for the folder going to zero the folder has completely disappeared from Lightroom.

KR Seals

Community Expert

It would be helpful if you would provide this information:

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

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