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I can't see ANY of my photos, please help

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hochmann1

New Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2020
Messages
3
Lightroom Version Number
10.3
Operating System
  1. macOS 10.15 Catalina
Hello! This morning I went to a catalog that I haven't used in about a month. Now, I can see the number of photos in each folder. I can go to the folders outside Lightroom and they're all there. I can even SEE each photo if I go the All Photographs section above, underneath Catalog. But I can't see any photos in the Folder section, not in Grid, not in Develop. So they're not really missing. I just can't see or work on any of them. Can anybody help me?

This is not a work Catalog and thankfully my other catalog, which IS for work, is fine. But it is really annoying not being able to see any of the 17,000+ photos that I have in this one.

Thank you for any help,

Sergio
 

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"I can even SEE each photo if I go the All Photographs section above, underneath Catalog. But I can't see any photos in the Folder section"

Your catalog may not be corrupt, since you can see thumbnails when All Photographs is selected. Troubleshooting steps:

1. Your screenshot shows that you've selected a parent folder, Europa. Try selecting a leaf folder, e.g. "1 Inglaterra". Do you see the thumbnails in that folder in Library Grid view? If so, then make sure the menu item Library > Show Photos In Subfolders is checked. (Normally, when that item is unchecked and you click a parent folder, LR will display "Subfolders not shown", which doesn't appear in your screenshot; but double-check this anyway.)

2. Exit LR. In your catalog folder, delete "<catalog name> Helper.lrdata". Restart LR (LR will regenerate the Helper.lrdata.) Problem fixed?

3. Try resetting LR's preferences:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/
LR sometimes soils its preferences file, and resetting it can fix all sorts of wonky behavior. That article explains how to restore the old preferences if resetting doesn't help.
 
"I can even SEE each photo if I go the All Photographs section above, underneath Catalog. But I can't see any photos in the Folder section"

Your catalog may not be corrupt, since you can see thumbnails when All Photographs is selected. Troubleshooting steps:

1. Your screenshot shows that you've selected a parent folder, Europa. Try selecting a leaf folder, e.g. "1 Inglaterra". Do you see the thumbnails in that folder in Library Grid view? If so, then make sure the menu item Library > Show Photos In Subfolders is checked. (Normally, when that item is unchecked and you click a parent folder, LR will display "Subfolders not shown", which doesn't appear in your screenshot; but double-check this anyway.)

2. Exit LR. In your catalog folder, delete "<catalog name> Helper.lrdata". Restart LR (LR will regenerate the Helper.lrdata.) Problem fixed?

3. Try resetting LR's preferences:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/
LR sometimes soils its preferences file, and resetting it can fix all sorts of wonky behavior. That article explains how to restore the old preferences if resetting doesn't help.
Hello and thank you for your help. I tried deleting the Helper file and still nothing. And I can't see thumbnails in the Library Grid view either :(

Any other idea? I have a backup file from about a month ago, which must have been the last time I opened this particular catalog.
 
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