Lightroom and external hard drive

[kzingermann]

Lightroom Version Number

15.3

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I’m a new member and this is my first try at using the forum. I’ve been using Lightroom classic now for several years and have made my share of mistakes. I have my photos saved on an external hard drive. In Lightroom my parent folder contains all folders by years. I have done editing and key wording in Lightroom and I’m happy with what I’ve done. My question is why doesn’t my external hard drive match up with my Lightroom folder system?

 

[Gnits]

The folder panel in LrC Library module represents all the folders which contain images you have imported to LrC.

It is not designed (deliberately) to be a replica of the Explorer or Finder directory tree. For some people it may be very close.. ie you keep an external drive for your images and every folder on this drive has images imported to LrC.

Sometimes.. when a folder is imported to LrC.. from say mid way down a folder tree structure. The LrC folder panel may not show the full path of folders from the root to the imported folder. If this happens, right click on the orphaned folder and select the option to show the parent. You can then select the parent folder, right click and again select the option to show the parent… repeat until you get to the root.

Bottom line… you may have a folder on your external drive which contains only your office docs, but no images with a format compatible with LrC. Then that folder will not appear on the folder list. (Ie unless a subfolder contains imported images).

 

[Zenon]

Another example that may be helpful. I also keep my files on an external drive. The catalogue which is in the Lightroom folder is on the desktop in the default location. Pictures for Mac OS. My file folder is set up like yours.

I have files from 2006. I started using LrC in 2011. I did not import the files from 2006 to 2010 into LrC. When I use the OS and look at the folders on the ED I see from 2006 to 2026. When I look at the folder structure in the LrC Library page I only see folders from 2011 to 2026. Since images from 2006 to 2010 were not imported, LrC does not know they exist. LrC reads file metadata during import and adds it to the catalogue database..

 

[kzingermann]

I have finally gotten back to my computer and have looked at both replies and neither seems to get to my issue. I think that everything I have done since 2017 is correct in explorer and in lightroom. Previous to that I have all my work from lightroom but in explorer it's there but I have to search thru several different folders. I think that comes from when I made a foolish lightroom error and did moves and renaming outside of lightroom. I'm ok with what I have and will just move forward.
Thank you

 

[clee01l]

Perhaps you can post a screen shot of your folder panel and your File Explorer view.

Un your folder panel you can right click on any folder and choose "Show if File Explorer". and a File explorer dialog will open to that folder

I made a foolish lightroom error and did moves and renaming outside of lightroom. I'm ok with what I have and will just move forward.

If you did this, then the lightroom catalog is out of sync with the path in the file system. In the Library menu {Library}{Find Missing Photos} will create a special collection of the photos that have catalog paths that do not agree with the filesyste, You can use this (with our help) to correct any path mistakes. You will not be able to export any derivative until Lightroom knows where the original ia located.

 

[kzingermann]

Here are screen shots of explorer and lightroom for my 2010 folder. Explorer folder has a lot more photos then my lightroom.

 

[clee01l]

Here are screen shots of explorer and lightroom for my 2010 folder. Explorer folder has a lot more photos then my lightroom.

Lightroom only shows folders in the folder panel that have images that have been imported into the Lightroom Catalog .

In Folder labeled "2010", you have imported images beginning in the folder labeled "nature scenes". You also have in the folder labeled "2010" a Sub-Folder labeled "2010" with its own Subfolders One being labeled "damages 2010"

What this tells me is that you never imported the folder "/2010/2010" or any of its sub folders into Lightroom. This is not an error and Lightroom folder panel is correct for the images that you HAVE imported into the catalog. The folder "/2010/2010" and its contents was created outside of Lightroom so there is no reason that Lightroom should even be aware of it. I'm thinking it was a mistake to create the folder "/2010/2010". So if you want the images in these folders in your Lightroom catalog there are several ways of doing this. One would be to open the import dialog and choose the folder "/2010/2010" in the Source panel and choose a correct destination folder in the Destination panel. This is probably the most clear option and if you choose MOVE instead of COPY Lightroom will move the image files to the new folder of your choice. emptying out the image files added to the catalog.

Another option would be to add the folder "/2010/2010" to the folder panel by clicking on the (+) in the Folder Panel header and choosing Add folder... from the context menu. Once you have done that you need to to right click on the folder "/2010/2010" and choose "Synchronise Folder..." from its context menu.

 

[Califdan]

Explorer folder has a lot more photos then my lightroom

Odds are that they are not in this catalog. Spot check a few...

1. In File Explorer, drill down to some images in one of the fodlers that is not in LrC
2. Copy the file name of the image to the clipboard (ctrl+c)
3. In LrC Library module, select "all Photographs" in the top "Catalog" panel
4. if the filter bar is not open above the grid, click the "\" key on your keyboard
5. Have only the "text" filter type enabled, and in the line below select "Filename", "Contains", and paste the file name in the box provided
   
   
6. See if any image shows up in the grid and if any do, are any of them the image from step 2. If so, it means the image is in LrC, just not in that folder. Right click on the image and select "Go to Folder in Library" and the folder LrC thinks it is in will be highlighted in the folders panel.
7. If the image does not show up in the grid it means that that image is on in LrC. Maybe never imported. May imported and subsequently removed.

Spot check 4 or 5 from different folders If it turns that none are in LrC, then you should think if they ever were in LrC? If so then come back for more guidance. If it turns out they never were, then import them

 

[kzingermann]

Thank you and I will be working on your suggestions .