I can't get LR5 to open folders I've downloaded into LR

[holmesidepi]

Lightroom Version Number

LR5

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I've been using LR5 for my initial processing of photos for several years, with no problems, but since early November, it will download them as usual, but the only way I can see the photos is by viewing them under "Previous Import." It shows the folders in the Navigator, with the total number of photos contained, but will not let me open them. I can process them when I see them in Previous Import. I can export them to PS, or to my HDR program, but it will not automatically import the new HDR files like before. Of note, this only affects folders downloaded since the first of November. I can still see and process older folders as usual.

I thought maybe I had too many files in my catalog, but Adobe says there is no limit. I've been keeping my photos organized under a folder for each year, and thought maybe I had exceeded the folder capacity for 2018, but when I just loaded them directly into the catalog, it still would not recognize them.

I need expert recommendations, because my wife is really tired of me yelling and screaming at my computer in frustration. She confirms this emphatically.

 

[Zenon]

When did you update to Windows 10?

 

[holmesidepi]

More than a year ago.

 

[Rob_Cullen]

Hi,
The "Previous Import" in the Catalog Panel is simply a list of the photos you last imported. It will disappear and a new one gets created when you next do another Import.

When you see any one image in the Grid view from the "Previous Import" (or "All Photographs" ) you should be able to select it and RIght-click to [Go to Folder in Library] and the FOLDER where the image is located will be highlighted in the Folder Panel.
Your Folder panel is visible- right?
Can you try this and report back?

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Hi holmesidepi, welcome to the forum! Don't worry, we'll figure this out. No more yelling needed!

I-See-Light's suggestion is a great place to start. It would also really help us if we could see a screenshot of Lightroom, particularly with the Folders panel opened up so we can see the contents. That will likely offer some clues. If you haven't created screenshots before, there's some instructions here.

 

[holmesidepi]

I am aware that Previous Import is temporary. I can click on a photo in the grid view, or on the preview row at the bottom, and go to folder with no problem. The issue is that I can only do this from the Previous Import view or from All Photographs. The Folder panel is visible to the left, as usual. However, I cannot click on a folder at the left and get it to open. When I click on it, I see a hatched gray line extending vertically from the arrow.

 

[holmesidepi]

 

[holmesidepi]

The only problem folders are all those posted after 01 November.

 

[holmesidepi]

As I've thought this through, I thought I should clarify how I have the catalog set up, and what I've done to try to diagnose the problem.

I upload my photos as a CR2 with a JPG thumbnail, to an 8 TB hard drive (labeled L), of which 4.8 TB are currently used. I have set it to save to the "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/2018/" folder. However, frequently LR will default to saving files to the "Pictures" folder on my C drive, which is a small drive set up for program files only. LR did defaulted to the "Pictures" folder again when I saved the folder on 03 November, and I later moved it in LR to "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/2018/." Although I had done this many times before with no problems, I believe this was when the problem developed. Since then, I keep forgetting to reset the destination folder before I upload new photos, so I've been transferring all of the folders since 03 November the same way. The problem folders are all those posted on or after 03 November.

I have tried to correct the problem myself. I tried deleting the folder from 10 November and reloading it as "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/2018/2018-11-10a," but I can't open it either. When I thought that maybe the "2018" folder had become too large, I moved the "2018-12-16" and "2018-12-22" files from "C://Pictures" into the larger "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/" folder yesterday, with the same results.

So, once I can no longer access the photos via the "Previous Import," they are inaccessible except by opening the entire "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/2018/" folder. This is extremely unwieldy, since I have 12,569 files in this folder.

Another issue I've noticed is that when I export to PS4, it no longer creates a sub-folder (which I call "LR Processed"). The way I set it up, "LR Processed" will normally appear in each date folder whenever I have exported any to PS4.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Thanks for the screenshot. Can you right-click on one of the problem photos and choose Go to Folder in Library and then post another screenshot please.

And also show us a screenshot of the "hatched grey line" you mentioned in "I cannot click on a folder at the left and get it to open. When I click on it, I see a hatched gray line extending vertically from the arrow."

There's a few possibilities bouncing around, so I think we just need to narrow it down a bit further.

 

[holmesidepi]

Thank all of you for your time spent helping me on Christmas eve! The gray line only appears when I hold down the select button on the folder label, so can't really get a screenshot of it. It runs straight up from the tip of the selection arrow to the top edge of the Navigator window.

Here's a screenshot of a file that I had made into a pseudo-HDR by making three copies and bracketing the exposure, using Photomatix and then reimporting it. It's visible when I view it from the "L://data/PHOTOGRAPHS/2018/" folder, which is at least reassuring that the other photos I had processed are also there. I had not been able to find them before.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Happy to help holmesidepi. The good news... or the bad news... is I can't quite see the problem though. Everything looks good here, other than a possible visual oddity most likely caused by using an old (2013?) version of Lightroom on a new version of Windows. That's probably a graphics driver issue.

So how are we doing being able to select different folders and seeing the photos inside them? Is that working ok now?

 

[holmesidepi]

Nothing has changed, effectively. I can only access the recent files by opening up the entire 2018 folder and scrolling down to one of the pictures in that month, and right clicking to select Go To Folder. This is going to get really old, fast, but at least I can get to them. I don't understand why it has never had this problem with Windows 10, which I've been using at least for the past couple of years.

I am not a professional photographer, although I have sold photos totaling close to $1000 US over a 6 year period. I have liked my workflow, and really have no need of the newer LR versions, so hate to spend the money to upgrade, but maybe that is my only option. First, I'll check with my son, who is a computer networking guy, about upgrading the graphics card.

Merry Christmas!

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ah, I wonder... there's a long term issue with number of items that can be shown in a panel on Windows. We mainly see it on the keywords panel, but your Folders panel list looks really long. If you collapse (toggle the triangle next to...) some of the folders further up the list to shorten the panel, are those later folders then clickable?

 

[holmesidepi]

Well, you are the Queen! I created new "2013" and "2014" folders and then moved the folders from 2013 and 2014 into them. Lo and behold, I have a functioning navigation link for all the new ones!

Merry Christmas to me! I really appreciate your willingness to share your time and knowledge, Victoria and I-See-Light!

So, in your opinion, should I upgrade to a newer version of LR if this one still works for me? I really do not see a benefit for me by going to the CC version.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Ah, that's good news.

There's a lot of new features that have been added to Lightroom (now called Lightroom Classic) since LR5 was released way back in 2013. You can read your way back through history here (Lightroom Classic Updates) and see whether they would be useful in your workflow. There have also been some image quality improvements over that time too. And of course, Lightroom 5 was never designed to run on Windows 10 either, so incompatibilities become more likely with every Windows update. So personally, I'd upgrade.