LR creating unwanted xmp files

[CHa]

Since the latest update, LR Classic creates an xmp sidecar to my Raw files when I press the downward arrow to update the metadata. Thing is, I don't have the "generate xmp file" box ticked in the Catalog Settings, since I don't want any xmp files. Is this a glitch in the last update or am I missing a step?

[JP Hess]

Were these images opened by some other raw converter before they were opened by Lightroom?

[CHa]

No, imported from the camera straight into LR, as I have always done. No PS, or any other program used. 

Did not have this issue before. I checked Raw files of a few months ago and they don't have any xmp sidecars even though meatdata had been updated. However, when I now make some changes to these older photos and update the metadata by pressing the arrow, they also get an xmp sidecar.  

[Just Shoot Me]

Basically if you do not make any changes to a file outside of LrC there should never be any Metadata conflict that you have to resolve.

Are you running an Auto Backup program of any kind. Some of them Write to the file they are backing up.

[JP Hess]

It can be the result of a corrupted preferences file. You could try creating a new one and see if that resolves the issue.

[CHa]

Sorry for my ignorance Jim, but how do I do that...?

[JP Hess]

How to reset Lightroom Classic preferences 

[CHa]

Thanks you.

Would this reset the Catalog Settings as well? Since it seems the xmp checkbox there is the cilprit.

[JP Hess]

I'm not sure what you mean by catalog settings. Some of the settings that you may be accustomed to might have to be  reset. But all of your adjustments will still remain.

[Just Shoot Me]

What Downward Arrow? Please post a screen shot.

[CHa]

The downward arrow appears in the Grid View in the right top corner of the photo box, but only if you have the Cell Icons checkbox "Unsaved Metadata" checked in the View Options. If left unchecked, the downward arrow does not appear after edits have been made.

[Just Shoot Me]

Right I figured that out. Thanks for the reply.

As to your problem that arrow should not be there even IF that option is checked in the View Options.

LrC should be saving all edits, all changed Metadata, to the catalog file in REAL TIME (As they happen).

This would lead me to think you have a catalog problem, some type of corruption that is not allowing the program to update the catalog file. Or it could be an OS or hardware problem.

What, if any, dialog box comes up when you click that arrow.

I get this.

NBut the Arrow I clicked on to get that dialog box was Upward facing with lines, like Text Lines, to the left of the arrow.

PLEASE Post a Screen Shot of what you are seeing.

[CHa]

No, there isn't a catalog problem or corruption, see the rest of this thread for more details.

Here is the screenshot, FYI:

 

[GoldingD]

see: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/metadata-arrow-on-upper-right-of-thumbnails-could-s...

[richardplondon]

If you don't have LrC set to "automatically write changes to XMP", then when you've made changes to an image a downward pointing arrow appears on the border of the image thumbnail in Grid view. It shows the text tip "Metadata needs to be updated" when you hover over that.

This is a notification of new edits inside the Catalog, which are not as yet also written out in XMP, to the file.

If you don't want XMP to appear alongside your Raws, don't click this arrow. Simple as that. 

Clicking the arrow instructs a metadata write out. And doing that creates an XMP file, or updates one if already present, when the file type is proprietary Raw. Necessarily so, because inside that there's no place where Adobe metadata can be saved in a standard way.

Inside a JPG or a DNG there is such a place, so no separate XMP file is needed in order to write LrC metadata. The file itself gets changed and this can be seen by an updated file modification date, as seen in your file browser. In the case of proprietary Raw the file modification date oes not change: only the separate XMP. The latter method is massively more efficient when making ongoing backups of the image folders, incidentally.

Having XMP copies of the edits written out immediately and automatically is only a good thing IMO. Having these separate from the image files themselves is positively better IMO. There is nothing to fear fomr these little XMP files. If you rename or delete or move an image file from inside LrC, the right thing happens to any accompanying XMP, silently. I have absolutely no reason to look at, let alone care about, what's in these image folders - except by using the LrC Catalog as my "front end". That shows me all edits including virtual copies, virtual organisation such as stacking, Collections, custom order etc. This is the real image library; the files on disk are just a necessary technicality.

[CHa]

Thank you for the detailed answer Richard. I understand the use of xmp files and their behavior, but I have no need for them and decided that I simply want to keep my drive uncluttered. I have the checkbox "Automatically write changes into XMP" in the Catalog Settings unchecked for that reason.

However, I have always (by habit I guess) clicked the downward arrow on my files (RAW and jpegs). Never did it create an xmp file to my (RAW) files until only recently; I checked my RAW files from years back and none of them have an xmp sidecare even though I know I clicked on the downward arrow at the time after editing. Doing it now does indeed create an xmp file. So I assume this change was implemented after the latest update, otherwise I have no idea.

Not a huge deal of course and I agree that I can just leave the downward arrow alone, but then I'd need to do that for my jpegs as well, since I typically did that for all my photos in that particular folder when I was finished with it. Guess I'll have to live with the xmp sidecars going forward 😉

[richardplondon]

There has never been any way to write metadata out otherwise. For proprietary Raw files it has always been XMP sidecar files (sole exception: you can permit Lightroom to update capture date/time, into the Raw itself).

Personally, I welcome the reassurance of these sidecar files. Keep the metadata out where you can see it, leave the data just as it came from the camera.

Some years back, I had Catalog corruption problems and needed to revert to a prior Catalog backup. Fortunately, I had had "automatically write changes" turned on previously as I worked. This meant that for images present in that backup but which I knew had been (potentially) edited subsequently, I could "read metadata from file" and recover a completely up-to-date image state for each one. And for newly imported images that did not show up in that backup, I could do a fresh Add import whereupon Lr read back in the latest editing state for those too. I didn't lose a thing... except for the detailed intermediate steps in History, and some information on Collection membership (such info as is not written out to XMP).