Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi All
I have been using Lightroom for Window for a couple of years now, but today when i opened it, the left hand pane while acknowledging that my normal external hard drive is attached only shows three folders! But when I opened Lighroom last week it showed all the folders that are stored in this external hard drive (approximatley 165) and which contain all my photo images! My question is why is Lightroom not showing the other folders anymore and how can I restore them in one go, so that they can be viewed and processed in Lightroom? BTW all the folders and photos can still be seen safely stored in my external drive!
Any help appreciated.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
You may have accidentally opened the wrong catalog file. Try File-> Open Recent and open each catalog shown there until you find the catalog you want.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi Thanks for coming back so quickly! However, when I tried Open Recent,it highlights Lightroom Catalog.Icrat, and if I click that I get a message saying "Relaunch Lightroom with this Catalog?" and when I accept that it still does not show all the folders that are in my external HD. Very frustrating but thanks anyway!
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Next step
Use your operating system's search feature to search all drives for files whose name ends with .LRCAT. Double-click on each one found to open it in Lightroom; continue until you find the catalog of itnerest.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Need some clarification on what you are seeing.
LR is not a file browser. The Folders panel shows you only the folders that you have imported pictures from. The only time you see all the folders on a drive is in the Import dialog.
Are the missing folders ones that you have already imported from?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi ManiacJoe, Yes i thnk the missing folders are ones that I have already imported from! I think on reflection my subject title is not quite correct, it should say Lightroom not showing folders that are stored in external hard drive (F), even though the were accessible previously in Lightroom. To illustrate the problem further if I disconnect than reconnect the HD to my pc all the folders suddenly appear under the (F) drive heading in Navigator but the lightroom window then asks me to select a source to copy the files to as DNG to another source. When i was using Lightroom previously. HD (F) was the source I was using to store and save photos in order to save space! Clearly if I saved them to this source again I would run out of storage space ! I am struggling to understand why lightroom is not now recognising the HD in which it had previously accessed folders!
Again thanks for any suggestions.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
It sounds like you are now seeing the Import dialog box after you disconnect and then reconnect the drive. Can you confirm that is what you are seeing?
If so, there's no need to Import anything, just click cancel in the Import dialog box.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi
February 2020 release (version 9.2)
Windows 10 Home 10.0.18363
Screenshot above (not sure why its rotated!) as you can seen there is nothing under Folder, however, if I click on + on Folder it opens the add Folder prompt which then opens a window to my HD and shows all the my photo folders. If I then select a specific folder Lighroom then opens a window asking from what source I want to import to. But this would involve importing again all the folders from scratch to my HD! Last week under Folder by HD was already identified including all the Folders were I had edited photos etc but now it is not been recognised, it is as if Lightroom forgot it has already accessed and modified these image files?
Thanks again.
February 2020 release (version 9.2)
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
What happens if you click on "All Photographs" under Catalog? Do you see all of your photos?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Which exact version of Windows?
Which exact version of Lightroom?
In the Folder panel, are the missing folders marked as missing "?" or are they completely missing from the panel?
Can you attach a screen shot so that we can see what you are seeing?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi I responded to your questions above!
Thanks