Very confused - finding images vs deletions

[MikeHit]

Lightroom Version Number

15.1

Operating System

1. Windows 11

I have a working drive that I use for day-to-day use then every 6-12 months upload all images to my main drive. All these files are in a directory called 'New Photos' and there are about 5,000 of them.
So I decided that before doing the transfer, I decided to make sure I had everything covered. I went into 'File Import' and used 'New Photos' as the source with 'do not import suspected duplicates' and with a folder called 'Import Check' as the destination.. It came up with 8,000 images which I assumed where ones that I had marked for deletion but not actually been deleted (maybe I pressed 'remove from Lightroom' by mistake').
This was horrific. Anyway, I went through all of them, deleting what I didn't need, and if they were good, imported them just to be sure. When deciding which ones I wanted to keep, I tried to move them from 'Import Check' to 'New Photos'.
Most of them could not be moved because they already existed in the 'New Photos folder'. I was confused to say the least, so I renamed them to '[filename]-1'. But when I went into the 'New Photos' folder I could not see two copies, only the one I had renamed.

That done, I did the 'import' check once more. It came up with another 2,000 images. I went through all this again must to be sure. So surely there should be no imported photos left to import.
I tried it again...and it came up with another 1500 images.

What the heck is going on? If these images are ones that had been deleted (which is why they are not in the catalog) why are they still in the 'New Photos' directory? If they are in the catalog why are they showing up in the 'Import' dialog box?

 

[Dave Clark]

I have a working drive that I use for day-to-day use then every 6-12 months upload all images to my main drive. All these files are in a directory called 'New Photos' and there are about 5,000 of them.
So I decided that before doing the transfer, I decided to make sure I had everything covered. I went into 'File Import' and used 'New Photos' as the source with 'do not import suspected duplicates' and with a folder called 'Import Check' as the destination.. It came up with 8,000 images which I assumed where ones that I had marked for deletion but not actually been deleted (maybe I pressed 'remove from Lightroom' by mistake').
This was horrific. Anyway, I went through all of them, deleting what I didn't need, and if they were good, imported them just to be sure. When deciding which ones I wanted to keep, I tried to move them from 'Import Check' to 'New Photos'.
Most of them could not be moved because they already existed in the 'New Photos folder'. I was confused to say the least, so I renamed them to '[filename]-1'. But when I went into the 'New Photos' folder I could not see two copies, only the one I had renamed.

That done, I did the 'import' check once more. It came up with another 2,000 images. I went through all this again must to be sure. So surely there should be no imported photos left to import.
I tried it again...and it came up with another 1500 images.

What the heck is going on? If these images are ones that had been deleted (which is why they are not in the catalog) why are they still in the 'New Photos' directory? If they are in the catalog why are they showing up in the 'Import' dialog box?

When you do an import into a new folder with "do not import suspected duplicates", LrC will import all the files that are not already in that folder. Since it's a new folder that will be all the files.

If you want to make sure there are not files in the existing 'New Photos' folder that you don't know about, right click the 'New Photos' folder and use 'Synchronize folder...'. That will import any photos that are not already in the folder. You can then see the new photos in 'Previous Import' in the 'Catalog' panel. You can cull them there.

 

[MikeHit]

Surely when you click 'do not import suspected duplicates', LrC will import phots not in the catalog - the folder is irrelevant. If it was files not in the folder, then it would highlight ALL files, which it didn't.
Which means I am still confused as to what is happening.

I will try the 'Sync' option.

 

[Califdan]

Surely when you click 'do not import suspected duplicates', LrC will import phots not in the catalog - the folder is irrelevant.

Correct

I will try the 'Sync' option.

Sync Folder option is just a front end to the Import Dialog but forces the Import dialog to use only the ADD mode. So, in terms of finding images to import it is the same as goning directly to the Import dialog (but sometimes more convenient as it pre-selects the folder to import from).

On your original problem, I can't really follow what you did but it seems that the images are still in the physical several of you physical folders. Using Windows Explorer, make some notes as to what physical files seem to be in each of the 3 folders you mentioned. Then in the LrC Folders panel, make a list which folder (or folders) LrC 'thinks' these images are in. This will give us a good starting point.

 

[hendersoneloy]

I have a working drive that I use for day-to-day use then every 6-12 months upload all images to my main drive. All these files are in a directory called 'New Photos' and there are about 5,000 of them.
So I decided that before doing the transfer, I decided to make sure I had everything covered. I went into 'File Import' and used 'New Photos' as the source with 'do not import suspected duplicates' and with a folder called 'Import Check' as the destination.. It came up with 8,000 images which I assumed where ones that I had marked for deletion but not actually been deleted (maybe I pressed 'remove from Lightroom' by mistake').
This was horrific. Anyway, I went through all of them, deleting what I didn't need, and if they were good, imported them just to be sure. When deciding which ones I wanted to keep, I tried to move them from 'Import Check' to 'New Photos'.
Most of them could not be moved because they already existed in the 'New Photos folder'. I was confused to say the least, so I renamed them to '[filename]-1'. But when I went into the 'New Photos' folder I could not see two copies, only the one I had renamed.

That done, I did the 'import' check once more. It came up with another 2,000 images. I went through all this again must to be sure. So surely there should be no imported photos left to import.
I tried it again...and it came up with another 1500 images.


Honestly, dealing with this kind of repetitive cleanup feels a bit like spinning the reels at an online casino in Australia—you think you’ve finally cleared everything, only for another batch to pop up. Similar to the site where regulations, duplicates, and fine print can be confusing at first, Lightroom's import logic is not always transparent in terms of what is considered “new.” You keep running the same process expecting a clean result, but the system keeps serving up surprises

What the heck is going on? If these images are ones that had been deleted (which is why they are not in the catalog) why are they still in the 'New Photos' directory? If they are in the catalog why are they showing up in the 'Import' dialog box?

Lightroom’s “suspected duplicates” check is pretty loose, it mainly looks at filenames, capture time, and some metadata, not file content.

 

[Califdan]

Lightroom’s “suspected duplicates” check is pretty loose, it mainly looks at filenames, capture time, and some metadata, not file content.

As of LrC 14.4, the duplicagte detection no longer looks at file name. According to an Adobe Employee, since 14.4 it uses a hash of File Size and Capture Time (with miliseconds if file supports it). Not clear which file size it uses (size on disk or pixel dimensions).

 

[RikkFlohr]

Size on Disk is the criterion - not pixel dimensions.

 

[Califdan]

Thanks Rikk. Will update my notes.