Clean up your Lightroom Classic MESS! - How to fix missing images.

[@forestchaput]

Who has made a mess in Lightroom Classic? Anyone...? 🤯

[@ellenmforrest]

I have a new PC when I open the updated version of Lightroom Classic, it has no previous images/folders.. nothing. I renamed my external hard drive so that it is consistent with it's previous letter from my old PC, but this doesn't help. No folders, no images. I am stumped. Do I have to re-import all of the folders from the external hard drive? Using the Find Missing Files or Folders doesn't work either.

[@forestchaput]

@@ellenmforrest You probably opened the wrong Lightroom catalog. Try opening Lightroom and going to File - > Open Recent and the correct catalog should be one of those options. If it's not, you will just need to manually find your old catalog and open that one.

[@davemacarty679]

Great video. I currently have a mess like you describe! What kind of hard drives do you use? What happens when one dies? How does Lightroom find the new images on either the back up or new hard drive?

[@Angies-adventures]

Thank you. I am knee deep in a LR MESS. Hope to get direction & clarity as I watch your videos. So glad you've taken the time to post multiple organizing videos!

[@forestchaput]

You are so welcome!

[@kathywingate2008]

Thank you, your instructions helped...So far I'm hating Lightroom, it just takes off and imports 20,000 photos without being asked...then, it can't find anything. Thankfully, I can find the photos, they are where they've always been, Lightroom still doesn't know they're there...This was to improve my work-flow?

[@joaquinposting]

I was expecting to find a magic button to order all my mess, but the video was so clear that you gained a subscriber.

[@forestchaput]

Thanks!

[@G2thesecondpower]

Great Video. I hadn't used Classic for a couple of years (CC is easier and suits my basic needs) but I'm in a photography class where we're learning LRC, and I forgot about not moving files and folders around. I thought, "shoot, my folders in explorer are a mess, here let me re-organize...doh." Fortunately, I didn't have many photos in LRC so after much consternation, I decided that the easiest thing to do was delete everything, organize my explorer folders the way I want them, and then reimport everything carefully! Lesson Learned!

[@charlierivera5725]

Thank you. I lost 3,293 pictures I took on tennis event and is why I’m looking at this video. They’re gone from my SSD external drive. What a headache shoot. I hope doing what you explained helps me. I wish I could get you on the phone 😂😂😂😂😂. Sand disk and Lightroom support did not know how, correct, they couldn’t help me. They seem to try doing something but, nothing was done to help. But thank you 🙏 so much. I’ll try this ASAP. Thank you

[@b991228]

To find conflicts in your LrC photos permanently create a filter in: Attributes, Metadata. If you are not screwing up your folders and photos in your catalog what should result is that the filter you created will indicate that conflicts are not present. Check the filter before every close out. If conflicts appear in the filter a mistake has been made. Before closing out immediately deal with fixing the problem while you can still remember how your mess-up might have occurred. Make life easier by not letting metadata conflicts pile up.

[@forestchaput]

Great tip! Catching those issues early is key to cleaning them up easily.

[@The1calico]

Thank you so much... This info. Saved me.. I was so sick to my stomach thinking I can't access my photos. And it was clearly my fault ,so thank you for explaining things and now my world is all better.

[@forestchaput]

Glad it helped!

[@sue928]

Happy to have discovered you. Thank you for this. I find your teaching clear and concise. The missing piece for me was using File explorer to find the missing files.

[@Christinelophotography]

Thank you! Another great video, much appreciated.

[@forestchaput]

My pleasure!

[@kss9931]

Thanks for this helpful video! It helped me correct a portion of my LR mess that happened when I upgraded my MacBook pro! I've got another question for images in a folder with over 3000 images, that I' not sure how to correct when importing from my LR backup catalog. For that folder, I can NOT see any images in my library - I can't even see the folder and sub-folders for the images on the left panel. However, I do see individual blank grey boxes where images should be. Each grey box has an explanation mark, with the file name for each image and all other metadata such as the date the image was shot, the star rating I assigned when I processed the file, as well the keyword tags, I assigned to each image. However, the images themselves can't be seen, If I click on the explanation mark on the blank image, I get the option to LR to locate the file, or to cancel. As an example, I get the following message for an image: "_87A5079.CR could not be found because the original file could not be found. Would you like to Locate it?" If I click on "Locate", the image disappears. For other folders that I was able to recover, there was a folder, and that folder had an explanation mark, and I was able to find where that folder is now. However, in this case, even though I know where the folder is, LR does not give me an option to find the image, and it is unable to find it either. I would appreciate if you can give me any suggestions on how to recover the images in this folder, so I don't have to reprocess all these images!!

[@forestchaput]

When you click the Locate button, Lightroom Classic is asking you to navigate to that specific image file, select it, and click the OK button. That will inform Lightroom where the original file actually lives.

[@ChrisHtown]

Missing files fix start @ 6:00

[@forestchaput]

True, but full understanding of why images go missing in the first place starts at 00:00 :)

[@shubhankargaur6075]

That was a problem I was facing for a really longgggg time and you solved it with such an ease..A big thanks to you Forrest 👍 Subscribing you right away sir.

[@forestchaput]

You're welcome! So glad to help!

[@southflowithfran]

I love this video! Can you make a video on how you back up to two additional hard drives?

[@forestchaput]

Thank you! We will add it to the idea list!

[@bassplayer60]

thank you for your wonderful info....I did have that problem.😷

[@forestchaput]

Glad it was helpful!

[@robraker9901]

Well done! Very well organized explanation that helped me considerably. Thanks Forrest - you da man!

[@forestchaput]

Glad to hear it!

[@manuelmikus3801]

Good video! I guess my problem is a further step into the wrong direction than just not finding the right folder.. I accidentally made a new catalog with all my photos and in this catalog the photos are unedited and I had to import them all.. Is there a way to restore my old catalog?

[@thirdyofficial4455]

Hi how about if i actually deleted a photo or clean lots of folders from my SSD and i also want to delete it from my lightroom? What i mean by that is to delete folders in light room with question mark.

[@mauricered2000]

Is there a way to re link multiple folders, I moved all the photos to an external hard rice.

[@bethlangoneal514]

That was a great video. Good explanations!! Easy to listen to.

[@forestchaput]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MaryUnderwoodeastbayarts]

I have a Real mess on my hands. Going to give this a try!!

[@ArgentoRAWRz]

A folder of mine from my library mode on the left got q question mark supposedly missing, but i havent moved them through finder or any other app, that folder was from my december months photos, so i checked recycle bin just in case but no luck, no luck with disk drill either. Any thoughts, recommendations?

[@skellam8010]

Great video. Great delivery. I'm a believer!

[@forestchaput]

Yes! Thank you!

[@ron2117]

Great video, but still can't find my images.

[@DogzWorld]

Thank you so much! This was perfect. Exactly what I needed

[@forestchaput]

Awesome! Glad to hear it 👍

[@michaelpretty1104]

Hi, I have a complete mess of files, folders and catalogs. recently I found that I had some missing images and it looked like they may have been on another drive. Somehow I seem to have ended up with an old setup in Lightroom, the title banner shows archive? the files are missing but cant locate so assume they may have been on an older drive (possibly lost during a house move incident). I checked the catologue and managed to get back to what I thought was the latest LR setup but I have complete recent shoot folders missing in the library. I have located that the images are intact but the "sync" must be broken? Any ideas? I cant seem to locate or dont know where the most uptodate catologue/backup is as they all seem older? I know it hard to check as you cant see my file structure but any tips? I seem to need to wind back the the LR from a few days ago?

[@forestchaput]

Hmmm. That's a tough one to diagnose without seeing what's going on. Maybe call Adobe for help? Or you can give us a call/email here at the school and we can set you up with some private instruction. You can learn more at our website. rmsp.com

[@neklamp2431]

Very well explained!

[@gabrielladesantis235]

Where are you clicking to get the option to select find missing folder?

[@forestchaput]

Just right-clicking on a missing folder.

[@andrewelder2739]

I have the opposite question. If I've since deleted image files off my hard drive, is there a way to tell Lightroom to remove them from it's libraries and collections?

[@forestchaput]

Yep! You can just right-click on any folder and select "Remove" to remove anything that's missing.

[@andrewelder2739]

@@forestchaput do you mean an individual Collection in LRC? I've tried that and don't see the option. Did you mean somewhere else in LRC?

[@arbez101]

Great lesson! Thank you. Using LR Classic on my iMac, I have the problem of missing photos, missing folders, AND MISSING THUMBNAILS. Can Anyone advise me on how to get thumbnails back? Thank you.

[@forestchaput]

Once the photos are located, you will need to recreate their previews. Just select the images and go to Library -> Previews -> Build Standard Sized Previews.

[@sacharolleston887]

My problem is that my main ssd containing the LR programme got corrupted and had to be replaced by a new one. I know I lost the most recent files due to not backing up but how do I install the latest backup from my ext hd in order to find most of my missing files? I tried doing it but there's still a lot of ? on most files. I had to do a lot of finding manually which doesn't seem right.

[@forestchaput]

No matter what you’ll have to do a lot of manual locating of files. It just takes time.

[@markmurphy5486]

Great video, thanks so much!

[@forestchaput]

Glad it was helpful!

[@reneemellott8612]

I have a question?? I have been using lightroom for 5 years and last night I was trying to export a wedding that has over 700 images and the lightroom program keeps getting stuck?? It will act like its exporting but after about 5 or 10 minutes or 50 or 60 images into it, it freezes up. I dont want to loose all the hard work I put into all the editing of the wedding gallery but how can I get lightroom to finish exporting without starting all over from scratch??

[@forestchaput]

We would suggest just exporting in batches of 50 or 60 at a time and see if that works for this situation!

[@reneemellott8612]

@@forestchaput so I tried exporting small batches of like 50 images and that did work until I got around to this certain area of images of a bride getting ready and then that batch got stuck again, would I have a corrupted image or two that would be stopping the exporting like that and making it freeze up??

[@CarolynBall]

Very helpful

[@RobertPintoweddingphotographer]

How to reimport the images which are deleted in the Lightroom saying delete from Harddrive?

[@ronbyram3880]

Great info. But I have a ? I got a New NAS for Christmas. I want to relocate all of My pictures to the NAS. Instead of multiple locations for pictures. BUT I want to keep a them on existing HD for backup also. Do I tell LR to move them to the NAS then recopy them Back? Just trying not to Lose my LR catalog settings etc..(GPS/Keywords etc) Thoughts?

[@forestchaput]

Yep! That would be the easiest. Let LR move them to the NAS, then copy them back with a backup program like SyncBack or Carbon Copy Cloner.

[@davidvillanueva.]

any tips on why I might be getting a "file not writable" every time I try to import?

[@forestchaput]

Hmmm. No. I’ve never seen that issue before. What camera did you use to shoot the images you are trying to import?

[@davidvillanueva.]

@@forestchaput I’m on a Sony A7iii, this issue started after I tried to import one of my friends photos from an email... (not sure if that has anything to do with it)

[@TerryStoa]

Nice - thank you.

[@forestchaput]

You bet!

[@chopinlvr]

I hope you are willing to help me. I, without thinking went into Finder and re named my folder that I keep my photos in, so that I could make a copy onto another hard drive. Well, I went back to Lightroom a couple of days later and, yup, my whole Lightroom Catalog has !. Is there an easy way to get my whole folder linked again without going from folder to folder?

[@forestchaput]

Yep! Just rename the folder back to what it used to be named.

[@roshanirudhan2979]

Thanks, Good info..

[@forestchaput]

You’re welcome!

[@bentlador3830]

How to save files could not be found in lightroom? I accidentally deleted na photos on my laptop but its still showing on my lightroom

[@forestchaput]

No way to get them back unless they happen to still be in your computers trash can. If not, they are gone for good.

[@papopin0]

I'm trying to import photos but is telling me they are in the catalog but I can not find them what do I do

[@forestchaput]

You'll have to know where you moved them to in order to tell Lightroom where they went. Alternatively you could re-import them if you still have the original files on a memory card.

[@jody1622]

OK, no prob with download to my extern hd BUT I get totally confused with cell phone photos and edited (i.e. Leaf, Topaz,Luminar). They end up all over the place.

[@forestchaput]

Yeah. Other applications can be harder to integrate. Luckily LR has incorporated many of their features through the year so the need to gout outside of the Adobe ecosystem has vastly reduced.

[@iconprosmarketing233]

it's at the 7:00 mark, fawk! tell us in the beginning of the video where the time stamp is at. Thank you.

[@forestchaput]

True! I just like everyone to know why this happens so that it doesn't happen more in the future.

[@avibongo]

Is there a global command to address 100 missing folders instead of relinking one folder at a time?

[@forestchaput]

Only if those folders are all inside of a single parent folder. If that’s the case, just locate that folder and all of the children will locate too.

[@avibongo]

@@forestchaput thank you!

[@ch0sin194]

WHAT U WANNA KNOW STARTS AT 6:13. YOU'RE WELCOME

[@forestchaput]

Hmmm. I'd argue that learning why the problem happened in the first place is almost more important than learning how to fix it...

[@نورالديننجار-ذ7ط]

💋💋💋💋💋💋💋