Removed or Deleted folders return

[mikecox]

Lightroom Version

12.2.1

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I tried, several times, to Remove 2 empty folders from a folder in Lr but each time they came back.

In Explorer, I watched as I clicked Remove in Lr, but the folders did not go away.

I tried to Delete the folders in Explorer, but they came right back within seconds.

I can't Remove them from Lr and I can't Delete them from Explorer.

Any idea what's going on?

 

[Johan Elzenga]

If you remove a folder from Lightroom, and that folder is empty, then Lightroom will delete it from disk. You do not say what these folders are, but it sounds like these could be system folders, like 'Pictures' or 'Documents'. If you delete these then your OS will recreate them immediately. While it Explorer, add some document to them. Any document will do. Then try to remove them from Lightroom again.

 

[Califdan]

Also check to see if the folder is hooked up to a cloud based syncronization tool which may be replacing it on you.

 

[mikecox]

If you remove a folder from Lightroom, and that folder is empty, then Lightroom will delete it from disk. You do not say what these folders are, but it sounds like these could be system folders, like 'Pictures' or 'Documents'. If you delete these then your OS will recreate them immediately. While it Explorer, add some document to them. Any document will do. Then try to remove them from Lightroom again.

These folders aren't system folders.

In Lr, I renamed folders 17 and 21, F1 and -F2. But, after several seconds, the names changed back to 17 and 21.
In Explorer, there were no name changes but 17 and 21 are now sorted as if they were F1 and F2.

Before I shut Lr down I noted 17 and 21 were sorted as if they were F1 and F2.

Here is the kicker: When I try to rename 21 to F2 in Explorer a pop-up reports that F2 already exists!

 

[mikecox]

ps

When I chose the Overwrite option 21 changed to F2 and, at the same time, 17 changed to F1,

In Lr, for a flash, F1 appeared then went back to 17! and F2 went back to 21!

What is going on???

 

[David_W]

Are these folders synchronised to any sort of cloud or network storage?

 

[Califdan]

Are these folders synchronised to any sort of cloud or network storage?

That was my question yesterday.

 

[David_W]

That was my question yesterday.

Indeed. This seems to be more of a filesystem problem than a Lightroom Classic one. This sounds to be much more like the behaviour of synchronisation, file versioning or backup software operating on the filesystem than anything to do with the application layer.

 

[mikecox]

Indeed. This seems to be more of a filesystem problem than a Lightroom Classic one. This sounds to be much more like the behaviour of synchronisation, file versioning or backup software operating on the filesystem than anything to do with the application layer.

I'm going to contact my IT service provider about this and get back to you.

 

[PhilBurton]

I'm going to contact my IT service provider about this and get back to you.

@mikecox

This behavior is weird. When you get a fix for this problem, please share it with us.

 

[mikecox]

@mikecox

This behavior is weird. When you get a fix for this problem, please share it with us.

I had the OS tuned up but that didn't fix it.

The next day I called back and asked them to address these 2 folders again. They logged onto my computer but couldn't figure out what was happening, so they are sending a tech to my house next week to see what s/he can do.

So the Weirdness continues.

On the plus side. these are the only folders that are misbehaving.

 

[mikecox]

Sorry, it's taken so long to f/u on this "weird" issue.

IT sent 2 technicians out a couple of weeks ago and they witnessed those files returning after being deleted, then spent an hour commiserating.

They weren't familiar with Lr, per se, but they explored the sync options and, based on their understanding of cloud file management, etc., they believe the problem is with Lr Sync. And we all laughed; it's always the other guy.

But that seems to make sense. It appears that Lt keeps syncing the files back. But why?

I kinda get it, in principle, but how do I fix it? And what happened?

This is new, and I'm at a loss. My understanding of fine points is shallow, at best. And everything is so stirred up and sometimes I feel I'm making it worse.

Should I just open an old catalog and see if that fixes it?

I don't know if my new Samsun Fold has anything to do with what's going on; I'm thinking in terms of syncing. I've noticed that Lr mobile, on my Fold, is labeled Lightroom for Samsung.

Sync on my S10 Mobile used Collections. On my Fold it uses albums. Could this be an issue?

Then there is the Read-only issue: see User folder image

I used Lr the Open 3 screenshots in Ps as layers. They loaded but I couldn't resize any of them, which appears to be a Read-only issue

In properties/ something is always in motion and can't be stopped. Something appears to be syncing but IT didn't know what to make of it, but believed it is the source of the problem.

The file Name chnages I thought I'd make turned out to be copies of the actual file. Write only issue? It can't change the name but it can make a copy.

I've attached some relevant, unedited, screenshots.

 

[mikecox]

Any thoughts on my last post; the Read Only error that appears when Lr opens?

The error appears to be in a subfield of the one indicated in the error.

 

[clee01l]

I have not followed this whole thread, but where (path) is your Lightroom Catalog file located?
C:\Users is a restricted system folder and should never have write permissions. Your User Login name should be the sub folder under C:\User (as in C:\User\[mikecoxUserID]\). The Default location for the catalog would be something like "C:\User\[mikecoxUserID]\Pictures\Lightroom\..."
If the Lightroom catalog resides in a folder that has both read and write permissions, you will not get this error.

 

[mikecox]

I have not followed this whole thread, but where (path) is your Lightroom Catalog file located?
C:\Users is a restricted system folder and should never have write permissions. Your User Login name should be the sub folder under C:\User (as in C:\User\[mikecoxUserID]\). The Default location for the catalog would be something like "C:\User\[mikecoxUserID]\Pictures\Lightroom\..."
If the Lightroom catalog resides in a folder that has both read and write permissions, you will not get this error.

Thanks for responding. You hit the nail on the head!

My Default Catalog is on L:/, an external SSD
But in the Preferences Sync tab, the path for "Specify location ..." was C:\Users\My ThinkPad\Pictures\Lightroom.

The "My ThinkPad" folder was generated by my ThinkPad computer! That's been confusing, because "One Drive" was put in that folder, along with most everything else.

I don't actually recall setting that path for this location but I changed it to a folder on my SS O:/ drive, and all the files were moved to the new location, and, just as you promised, the error stopped popping up!

Thank you for solving this mystery!

I hope this will solve the problem I'm having with getting images from my Lr phone app to my Lr computer program!