Catalogs Long Post—Rename Catalog "Lost" Mine

[Richard Peck]

Lightroom Version Number

14.0.1

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

When I began using Lightroom several years ago, I chose a bad name (T-7 SSD) for my catalog. Newbie mistake . So I was pleased the see File—>Rename catalog in 14.0.1.

Here's the problem: I renamed my catalog (Main_LrC_Catalog) and also checked the box to rename the parent folder where my images are stored. LrC did as I asked. It also renamed all the necessary Lightroom files, .lrcat, .lrdata, etc. What Lightroom does not seem to have done is re-point the database to the new parent folder.

The result is that Lightroom thinks I have 174,000 missing photos. Hence this long post. Apologies for the length. I'm just hoping to be reasonably complete so that someone with more LrC knowledge than I have won't have to ask as many diagnostic questions.

1. Has anyone else encountered this?
2. Was it truly essential for Preferences to specify a named catalog (not open most recent, which is how I work) in order for "Rename catalog" to work? See attached. If specifying a named catalog in Preferences was essential, it would have been nice of Adobe to pop-up a warning about bad things that might happen.

All my photos are still on the hard drive (SSD), of course, so this isn't a disaster—just awfully inconvenient. I use a year/month file hierarchy. One cumbersome way I've tested as a possible fix is:

• Go into any given year (say, 1984) in the Folders pane
• Drag the photos from the "ghost 1984" up to Main_LrC_Catalog (T-7 SSD still appears in the Folders pane along with Main_LrC_Catalog)
• That results in Lightroom creating a year/month folder in Main_LrC_Catalog

I've used that method to fix small messes in the past, but this is a big mess: 40+ years with 12 months in most years. You see the problem. I could potentially have to manually move 480 months in the Folders pane to fix this.

Optionally:

• I've thought using Finder to rename Main_LrC_Catalog back to T-7 SSD. I can't imagine this would work and I haven't tried for fear of making things worse
• I've also thought about reverting to 13.5, for which I have a .zip file of the catalog before the attempted File—>Rename catalog. I could then "upgrade" to 14.0.1 and try again
• Finally, at the extreme, I've thought about simply deleting 14.0.1 and all its associated files, then reinstall 14.0.1 from Adobe and import 174,000 photos again

Any guidance appreciated. Apologies, again, for the long post.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

You don't need to move any folders, you just have to relink them in the database. Here's how:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

 

[Richard Peck]

You don't need to move any folders, you just have to relink them in the database. Here's how:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

Thank you, Johan. I reviewed the link. If I understand what you are saying and the page you pointed me to (and I think I do because I have re-linked folders previously), then here is the problem I'm encountering: there is no T-7 SSD folder to which I can re-link.

"File—>Catalog rename" changed T-7 SSD to Main_LrC_Catalog. So when I right click on the T-7 SSD folder shown in the Folders pane of Lightroom (see the attached screenshot), the parent folder T-7 SSD is no longer there. Only Main_LrC_Catalog, as it was renamed by "File—>Catalog rename," is in my Lightroom Mac top-level folder. Just to be clear/complete, I did not manually move or rename any folder outside Lightroom through Finder.

Does additional information help? If I'm not expressing the problem well, let me know and I'll send/attach more screenshots, e.g., from Finder rather than the Folders pane within Lightroom.

I'm very grateful for your willingness to help.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

If I look at your screenshot, then it seems that the folder called 'T-7 SSD' does not exist. All its subfolders are in the 'Main_LrC_Catalog' folder. That means you'll have to tell Lightroom Classic that, so you should relink 'T-7 SSD' to 'Main_LrC_Catalog'. Lightroom Classic will tell you this folder already exists, and ask you if you want to merge them. Click Merge and the problem should be fixed. Do make a catalog backup first!

 

[Richard Peck]

If I look at your screenshot, then it seems that the folder called 'T-7 SSD' does not exist. All its subfolders are in the 'Main_LrC_Catalog' folder. That means you'll have to tell Lightroom Classic that, so you should relink 'T-7 SSD' to 'Main_LrC_Catalog'. Lightroom Classic will tell you this folder already exists, and ask you if you want to merge them. Click Merge and the problem should be fixed. Do make a catalog backup first!

Thank you, Johan, for staying with me on this problem. Just two questions:

1. T-7 SSD and Main_LrC_Catalog appear in the screenshot to be at the same level of folder hierarchy—that is, T-7 SSD is not indented to the right farther than (or subordinate to the) Main_LrC_Catalog. Probably I am not understanding what you are saying. If so, forgive me.
2. Forgetting my misunderstanding or confusion for now, how would I re-link T-7 SSD to Main_LrC_Catalog? So far, when I try any operation within Lightroom on T-7 SSD, Lightroom simply says that folder does not exist. How would I merge them?
3. This is why I have considered the radical—probably foolish—idea of (in Finder or Terminal, outside Lightroom, which we are never supposed to do) renaming Main_LrC_Catalog to T-7 SSD.

I am very grateful for your willingness to help and if I have not understood, please let me know. With thanks.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

What I see in your screenshot is that while Lightroom thinks that subfolders like ‘1904’ are in a folder called ‘T-7 SSD’, in reality these folders are all inside the folder called ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’. That means Lightroom thinks there are two folders, but in reality there is only one folder containing all the dated subfolders. Relinking the non-existing ‘T-7 SSD’ folder to the ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’ folder and merging them solves this.

1. Forgetting my misunderstanding or confusion for now, how would I re-link T-7 SSD to Main_LrC_Catalog? So far, when I try any operation within Lightroom on T-7 SSD, Lightroom simply says that folder does not exist. How would I merge them?

You are probably confused because you would relink a folder to a folder with a different name, but that is no problem. Lightroom understands that. You can compare this to having a ‘missing’ folder because you renamed this folder outside of Lightroom. You solve this by relinking the folder with the old name in the folder panel to the folder with the new name on disk. The result is that Lightroom will show the new name and so the catalog and the disk are again showing the same thing.

So what you do is right-click the ‘T-7 SSD’ folder, choose ‘Find Missing Folder’ and then select the ‘Main LrC_Catalog’ folder. Lightroom will ask you if you want to merge them. Click the Merge button and you’re done.

This is why I have considered the radical—probably foolish—idea of (in Finder or Terminal, outside Lightroom, which we are never supposed to do) renaming Main_LrC_Catalog to T-7 SSD.

That would solve very little. The result would be that the ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’ folder would now be missing, so you would fix one missing folder by making another folder missing.

 

[johnbeardy]

Forgetting my misunderstanding or confusion for now, how would I re-link T-7 SSD to Main_LrC_Catalog?

What you need to do is first, backup the catalogue. Then the re-linking... in LR right click the T-7SSD and choose Find Missing Folder. Then point to the folder Main_LrC_Catalog, and I think you'll then see a message asking if you want to merge, which is what you should do.

The key problem here is that your photo folders are in the same folder as the catalogue and its related files. Generally it's best to have a folder containing the subfolders of photos, and a folder containing the catalogue and its files. But that's for later.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Correct. The dialog will say (something like): “The selected folder or one of its subfolders is already in Lightroom. Do you want to combine these folders?” And then you’ll have the buttons ‘Merge’ and ‘Cancel’.

I agree with John that after you’ve fixed this, it will be better to move all image folders inside a single parent folder that is not the catalog folder.

 

[Richard Peck]

What you need to do is first, backup the catalogue. Then the re-linking... in LR right click the T-7SSD and choose Find Missing Folder. Then point to the folder Main_LrC_Catalog, and I think you'll then see a message asking if you want to merge, which is what you should do.

The key problem here is that your photo folders are in the same folder as the catalogue and its related files. Generally it's best to have a folder containing the subfolders of photos, and a folder containing the catalogue and its files. But that's for later.

Johan,

Thank you

What I see in your screenshot is that while Lightroom thinks that subfolders like ‘1904’ are in a folder called ‘T-7 SSD’, in reality these folders are all inside the folder called ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’. That means Lightroom thinks there are two folders, but in reality there is only one folder containing all the dated subfolders. Relinking the non-existing ‘T-7 SSD’ folder to the ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’ folder and merging them solves this.


You are probably confused because you would relink a folder to a folder with a different name, but that is no problem. Lightroom understands that. You can compare this to having a ‘missing’ folder because you renamed this folder outside of Lightroom. You solve this by relinking the folder with the old name in the folder panel to the folder with the new name on disk. The result is that Lightroom will show the new name and so the catalog and the disk are again showing the same thing.

So what you do is right-click the ‘T-7 SSD’ folder, choose ‘Find Missing Folder’ and then select the ‘Main LrC_Catalog’ folder. Lightroom will ask you if you want to merge them. Click the Merge button and you’re done.


That would solve very little. The result would be that the ‘Main_LrC_Catalog’ folder would now be missing, so you would fix one missing folder by making another folder missing.

Johan,

Thank you very much for your patience and for walking me through the merge process. Your paragraph "So what you do..." was exactly what I needed. It worked just as you said it would.

I'm very grateful,

Richard

 

[Richard Peck]

What you need to do is first, backup the catalogue. Then the re-linking... in LR right click the T-7SSD and choose Find Missing Folder. Then point to the folder Main_LrC_Catalog, and I think you'll then see a message asking if you want to merge, which is what you should do.

The key problem here is that your photo folders are in the same folder as the catalogue and its related files. Generally it's best to have a folder containing the subfolders of photos, and a folder containing the catalogue and its files. But that's for later.

John,

Big thanks for your help. You knew, as Johan did, precisely what I needed to do. All is well now in terms of missing folders and I can get back to other Lightroom tasks, including a lot of keyboarding and de-duping.

I will do as you suggest and Johan seconded—create separate folders, one containing the subfolders of photos, and the other containing the catalog and its related files.

If it is not an imposition, point me to a post/thread that explains the process? I understand conceptually what is to be done, but the step-by-step process of what to move (and in what sequence) is my issue.

With big thanks again,

Richard

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Moving folders can be done in the Lightroom folder panel by using drag and drop. So first you’ll have to create a new parent folder. I would advise you to keep that folder outside the catalog folder. You can do this in the folder panel, so Lightroom knows about the existence of that folder and shows it in the folder panel. Click on the plus icon in the upper right corner of the folder panel, and choose ‘Add Folder’. In the dialog that follows you can select some existing folder, but you can also create a new folder and select that. So navigate to a location where you want to keep your images, and then create a new folder there. Call it “Lightroom Photos” or something else that makes sense to you. Then you simply drag and drop your yearly image folders into this “Lightroom Photos” folder. Because you do this in the Lightroom folder panel, Lightroom knows what you are doing and the folders do not get ‘missing’ again. What happens in the folder panel also happens in real life of disk, so your image folders will be moved on disk too.

 

[johnbeardy]

I will do as you suggest and Johan seconded—create separate folders, one containing the subfolders of photos, and the other containing the catalog and its related files.

If it is not an imposition, point me to a post/thread that explains the process? I understand conceptually what is to be done, but the step-by-step process of what to move (and in what sequence) is my issue.

OK, Johan answered first, but I intended not to give you the steps and instead suggest that you should think about how fixing those missing folders taught you all you need to rearrange everything into separate folders. You're there - just take your time (and backup).

I would also recommend that you run the menu command Library > Find All Missing Photos. Ideally this should always return no photos. If it does list anything, then pause again and fix the problems before proceeding. It's a good indicator of a system (catalogue and photo folders) that's in good health.

 

[Richard Peck]

Johan, John—Thank you both!

I have now all photos in a Lightroom Photos folder. All of the LrC support files are in Main_LrC_Catalog (what is the proper term for all the files that include .lrcat, .lrdata, etc.?)

Lightroom Photos and Main_LrC_Catalog reside in a higher-level folder, Lightroom Mac. (In my UNIX days, I would have said a lower-level folder because Lightroom Mac is closer to the root directory, but the two of you understand what I mean, I'm sure.) In Finder, it "looks" higher. Honestly there have been days during which Lightroom has made me feel I've never touched a computer before and should throw out the ones I own.

I did run Library > Find All Missing Photos. The result was 19 that I've known were missing and I know where they are: on my iPhone. I probably unthinkingly moved them in Finder while doing something else outside Lightroom.

Again, thanks to you both. This was truly an international effort. I'm very grateful.

Richard

 

[johnbeardy]

You're welcome, glad to help.

Whenever I am consulting, I always do a Find All Missing Files as it's such a good indicator of what's been going on, and I run it on my own catalogue every so often. Just think of it like a health check.

 

[Richard Peck]

Count on me running the health check regularly. Thank you again for your help!