I cannot access a folder which exists

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PhilC

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I have 'lost' a folder from Lightroom Library's Catalog: let me explain.The folder in question is 'Gambia 2016' from a bird photoshoot in Jan/Feb this year.It started as 1000+ raw images reduced down to 527 (and possibly to 224 images finally - see later).
When I open LR in Library mode 'Gambia 2016' is NOT listed in the folders in my master folder entitled MY LIGHTROOM FOLDER - (MLF for short hereafter). What is there is a Folder called Backup 224 which when clicked on shows no content and which earlier on in trying to sort this problem I found contained 224 of the 527 Gambia images!
When I right click on Backup 224 and select Show in Finder it shows it to be in MLF and alongside it is Gambia 2016!!, which clicks open to show the 527 images.
Equally, if in Finder I select Macintosh HD>Users>(my user name)>Pictures>MLF>Gambia 2016 is there.
If so why will it not appear when I open LR in Library mode? And what can I do to bring this about?

Three background points that are possibly relevant: 1. I did not save to an external hard drive the original 1000+ raw images from the shoot. I thought I had set this up when I switched over from Windows to my iMac in late 2015 but I did not and I know I must set this up for all future shoots. 2. I upgraded from LR 5 to LR CC in March this year. 3. The Backup folder mentioned earlier is I think from a backup on quitting LR when still on LR5, done in February 2016.

I am attaching 2 screenshots of relevant items:
 

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Phil,
Isn't this the same problem that is already discussed at length in another thread? If so, please do not start a duplicate thread. That only confuses things.

The reason why that Gambia 2016 folder does not show in Lightroom (if it really doesn't show in Lightroom; your Lightroom screenshot does not go far enough to show that...) is because it apparently isn't imported into Lightroom, or because it was removed from Lightroom at a later stage. Please understand that Lightroom is not a browser. It doesn't show you all the folders inside your 'MY LIGHTROOM FOLDER', but only the ones which are actually imported.
 
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Yes it is. I put it into this separate forum since it seemed to have become a Lightroom issue of a different sort. And at the time you seemed not to be able to take the issue forward . The folder certainly WAS imported into Lightroom. Nothing goes into My Lightroom Folder except images that are imported into Lightroom. And I have not -except possibly in error- ever removed any folder from there.
Gnits now seems to have taken me further and I will see where this leads, but I do not wish to leave any stone unturned to try to recover these images. I am sure you can understand that.
Happy Christmas!
 
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So understand this: if a folder does not show in Lightroom, it is not (or no longer) cataloged in Lightroom. Period. Your screenshot is inconclusive, because a folder called 'Gambia 2016' would show below the folder 'Bluebells 2016 May', which is all the way at the bottom in your screenshot. Lightroom always shows folders alphabetically, you can't change this.

So, is that folder in Lightroom or is it not? Remember that it could also be somewhere as a subfolder. If the parent folder is shown collapsed, you may not see it even if it is there. Maybe Lightroom thinks it is not next to 'Backup' but inside 'Backup'?...
 
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I am no suspending action on this issue over Christmas and will come back to int in 3-4 days
Thank you and a Happy Christmas
 
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To those who were helping me, I hope you had a good Christmas!
I am pleased to tell you that with the help of my computer-savvy daughter I have now recovered 527 images from the 'lost' Gambia 2016 folder. As I said in my post of 23 December, what I have recovered are already-edited images which I am now filing under a slightly different name. Sadly I seem to have lost some of the very best images, but I accept that the ultimate fault lies with me in not backing up the original raws externally before any processing them in Lightroom. The key is that we all learn from our mistakes - a new external hard drive is on its way and my workflow will be amended!
Thank you for your help
 
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Hi Phil,

I think it would be very handy for all of us know exactly what the issue was.
You seem to be intimating that the problem was a HDD failure or corruption or something like that but it isn't clear.

Tony Jay
 
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Tony, I fully understand your interest in wanting to know exactly what the issue was but regrettably I am not able to tell you. I explained to my daughter the problem , which I had been wrestling with for over a week, and she said something like 'leave it to me' (she uses Lightroom too) and half an hour later she said she had sorted it out. It was the middle of a family Christmas and I decided to settle for it being resolved rather than asking for an explanation.
 
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