Recover catalog

[Richard Behan]

Lightroom Version Number

6.14

Operating System

1. macOS 10.14 Mojave

Help, help. I switched to an old catalog and now can't get my current catalog to reload. I go to File>Open Catalog>Backups>Open. Scrolling to the most recent backup, 2022-8-24, and clicking on that, then clicking Open, I see a GREYED OUT icon, "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat,zip. This seems to be the end of the line. Now what? Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Richard Behan]

Update. On an external hard drive I discovered copies of ALL my LR photos, so I'm relieved to know I haven't lost them altogether. I have no clue, though, about how to get them back into Lightroom. Sorry to be such a klutz, but I'm an old duffer just barely hangin' in there with the new technology.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Help, help. I switched to an old catalog and now can't get my current catalog to reload. I go to File>Open Catalog>Backups>Open. Scrolling to the most recent backup, 2022-8-24, and clicking on that, then clicking Open, I see a GREYED OUT icon, "Lightroom Catalog.lrcat,zip. This seems to be the end of the line. Now what? Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks

In LR6, do File>Open Recent. Your current catalog should be listed there, click on it to select it.

As an aside, catalog backups are automatically zipped, so the user is required to unzip them before they can be opened in Lightroom.

Also, do not worry about your image files, they are not IN the catalog so you won't have lost those. Just concentrate on getting the correct catalog opened.