Catalogs Where is my catalog?

[janet.benson468]

Lightroom Version Number

14.1

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

I have successfully used Lightroom classic for. a few year. My catalogue and raw images were save to an ext HD through LR. Last week my hard drive failed. I took it to a shop and they said the motor had gone and copied all the data on to a new External HD. I have brought it home and plugged into my macbook and opened LR. It can't locate the catalog and wants to use an old one, update or make a new one. I dare not click anything ! I just want my old way of working back where all my images are together, sorted in to years. It says a new catalogue will not be compatible with older versions of LR classic. Any suggestions on what I should do or who should I contact?
I can't be sure which classic version I am on as it won't open unless i click to open a new catalog, so I am just going to fill in one of the moptions

 

[BobMc]

This should work:

Create the new Catalog and then from the File dropdown, select “Import from Another Catalog", and then select your older catalog file. If you don’t know where it is, just search for .lrcat.​

I did not upgrade my LRC 6 to LRC 14 until this year.​

 

[Califdan]

I'm going to contradict @BobMc and reccomend that you do not "import from another catalog"

The problem is that your new drive has a different name than your old drive and LrC is still looking for your catalog on the old drive name. Either rename the drive to the EXACT same name as the old drive (captialzation counts), or using Finder, locate your LrC catalog on the new drive (it's a file ending in ".lrcat") and double click on it to open it. That will launch LrC with that catalog. All your folders MAY be marked as missing. If they are, right click (ctrl click) on the highest level folders and select "Show Parent Folder". Repeat this a few times till you can see the top level of the drive. Then Right click (Ctrl+click) on the highest one with a "?" and select "find missing folder". navigate to that folder on the new drive and selected it. Repeat with other folders if they are at the same level in the hierarcy

 

[John R Ellis]

"using Finder, locate your LrC catalog on the new drive (it's a file ending in ".lrcat") and double click on it to open it.

I agree with Califdan. To elaborate on this, in Finder, do the menu command Go > Go To Computer, which will list all the external drives currently connected to your computer.

Double-click on the new drive to show its contents.

If the files on the new drive are in the exact same locations as on the old drive, you should see the catalog file shown in your screenshot, at the top level of the drive:

Lightroom Catalog Dec232021 (original) -v13-3.Ircat

It may not be showing the file extension ".lrcat" -- by default Finder doesn't show file extensions. Do the menu command Finder > Settings and check the option Show All Filename Extensions.

 

[janet.benson468]

I did this and all images were blank with exclamation mark

 

[janet.benson468]

I'm going to contradict @BobMc and reccomend that you do not "import from another catalog"

The problem is that your new drive has a different name than your old drive and LrC is still looking for your catalog on the old drive name. Either rename the drive to the EXACT same name as the old drive (captialzation counts), or using Finder, locate your LrC catalog on the new drive (it's a file ending in ".lrcat") and double click on it to open it. That will launch LrC with that catalog. All your folders MAY be marked as missing. If they are, right click (ctrl click) on the highest level folders and select "Show Parent Folder". Repeat this a few times till you can see the top level of the drive. Then Right click (Ctrl+click) on the highest one with a "?" and select "find missing folder". navigate to that folder on the new drive and selected it. Repeat with other folders if they are at the same level in the hierarcy

I opened new catalogue with today's date . As I said above photos were missing. Then I tried 'adding' from the new hard drive to the new folder which seemed to work for the folder titled 2025. I tried to repeat for 2024 but didnt seem to work

 

[Califdan]

As you have chosen to follow the advice of @BobMc rather than myself and @John R Ellis, I think you'll have more issuses and complexity than my advice.
If you did the "Import from another catalog", of course all the images will still be missing and you'll have to locate the missing folders the same as in my advice, and in the process you might have messed up cloud sync (if you use it).

 

[janet.benson468]

I haven't disregarded anyone. I'm sorry but i thought this forum had rules about being polite to everyone. I won't use it again!!! I tried the first solution that was given. I'm sur everyone is trying to help. I'm in a bit of a mess now, but I'll try and figure it out. I don't need a telling off, when I'm stressed out about my photos as it is

 

[clee01l]

I tried the first solution that was given. I'm sur everyone is trying to help.

You might want to note that Calfdan and John R Ellis have a "Guru" badge, while BobMc does not. These people are given the "Guru" badge because they have proven themselves to be knowledgable and helpful. Their answers can be trusted. While others can sometimes give the correct answer, that might not always be the case.

We really want to help. At this point your best plan would be to revert to the original master catalog file where everything is in place but LrC does not know where your images are located.

This happens because the Old volume had a name that was recorded in the master catalog file as the path to the images. The new volume most likely has a different volume name. You can resolve this in one of two ways.

In the Folder panel of your master catalog you will see the volume name and at least the top level folder. Your master catalog will likely show the old volume name with a gray icon to the left of the name. That gray icon means the volume is not mounted. A volume that is mounted will show a green icom and a volume in error will show a red icon.

• You can shut down Lightroom classic and in Finder rename the new volume with the old volume name and restart Lightroom Classic
  
  
• The other option is to simple point your top level folder(s) in the folder panel that show as missing to the new volume. using the Update folder location option.
• 

Which of these method would be easiest for you to use?

 

[janet.benson468]

You might want to note that Calfdan and John R Ellis have a "Guru" badge, while BobMc does not. These people are given the "Guru" badge because they have proven themselves to be knowledgable and helpful. Their answers can be trusted. While others can sometimes give the correct answer, that might not always be the case.

We really want to help. At this point your best plan would be to revert to the original master catalog file where everything is in place but LrC does not know where your images are located.

This happens because the Old volume had a name that was recorded in the master catalog file as the path to the images. The new volume most likely has a different volume name. You can resolve this in one of two ways.
View attachment 26391
In the Folder panel of your master catalog you will see the volume name and at least the top level folder. Your master catalog will likely show the old volume name with a gray icon to the left of the name. That gray icon means the volume is not mounted. A volume that is mounted will show a green icom and a volume in error will show a red icon.

• You can shut down Lightroom classic and in Finder rename the new volume with the old volume name and restart Lightroom Classic
  View attachment 26392
• The other option is to simple point your top level folder(s) in the folder panel that show as missing to the new volume. using the Update folder location option.
• View attachment 26393

Which of these method would be easiest for you to use?

Thank you for reaching out to me
I attach a screenshot of my folders panel. I hope you can see it clearly. The 3 references to Blue passport are a WD ext HD which died three years ago and data was lost. I had backup and retrieved some of them. The HD which broke last week was a seagate after 3 years. All data was retrievable and transferred by the shop where i bought a new HD - which is named One touch2 - the name of the seagate drive. Whether correct or not, I started a new folder and began manually adding files from 2025 to the new catalog from the new Hard drive. There are some others that have appeared but not all. I am assuming the top level folder you mention is One touch2 with the grey icon.( I'm not sure why the old blue passport ones are green when the HD doesn't work.) SO I'm not sure about renaming the new volume with the old name. Then, I'm not sure which top level folders you mean, but I can look at this further with our actually doing anything. I do appreciate your trying to help.

 

[clee01l]

Can you post a screen shot of the left panel (Locations) of a Finder window?
Mine looks like this:

The screen shot shows all of the volumes mounted in MacOS whereas the Folder panel only shows volumes that are referenced in the catalog file.
I have pasted your screen shot into my reply (so that you can see the whole screen shot). I have several comments to make:
wrweU

• Can you click on the right triangle. of each of the "Blue passport" volumes? I am looking for folders that are showing a (?) beside then indicating that they are missing. If you find that , then a screen shot showing the position that indicates missing folders will be most helpful.
• The Volume labeled "EOS_DIGITAL" is usually the volume assigned to the camera or camera card. This suggests that you at some time imported images and used the camera card as a destination in the Lightroom catalog. This is not a proscribed method of importing image into the LrC catalog file. As soon as you disconnect the camera card, this volume is no longer available. Assuming that you reformat and reused the camera card, these cataloged images are lost to Lightroom.
• The grayed icon on the volume labeled "One Touch" is probably the dead Seagate. If you click on the triangle on the right of that volume, it should open to folders that were on the dead volume but still contain references to the missing images in the catalog and all of the edits and adjustments that you made before the disk died. It is these image that we want to connect to their new location so that you do not lose any of your original work. Can you post a screen shot of these folders? Each missing folder should have a {?} beside the folder icon.
• And finally, the volume labeled "One Touch2" is your new volume and is showing 13364 images that you have RE-imported into your master catalog. These will have none of the edits from the work before. If you spend much time here reading of others problems, you will see oft repeated the admonition "Do Not Reimport". This tells me that this is not the master catalog that existed before you had your failed drive problem. I will remind you of my earlier instruction: "At this point your best plan would be to revert to the original master catalog file where everything is in place but LrC does not know where your images are located. Do you still have that catalog file or a backup catalog from that point?

How are we doing??

 

[janet.benson468]

Can you post a screen shot of the left panel (Locations) of a Finder window?
Mine looks like this:
View attachment 26395

The screen shot shows all of the volumes mounted in MacOS whereas the Folder panel only shows volumes that are referenced in the catalog file.
I have pasted your screen shot into my reply (so that you can see the whole screen shot). I have several comments to make:
wrweU

• Can you click on the right triangle. of each of the "Blue passport" volumes? I am looking for folders that are showing a (?) beside then indicating that they are missing. If you find that , then a screen shot showing the position that indicates missing folders will be most helpful.
• The Volume labeled "EOS_DIGITAL" is usually the volume assigned to the camera or camera card. This suggests that you at some time imported images and used the camera card as a destination in the Lightroom catalog. This is not a proscribed method of importing image into the LrC catalog file. As soon as you disconnect the camera card, this volume is no longer available. Assuming that you reformat and reused the camera card, these cataloged images are lost to Lightroom.
• The grayed icon on the volume labeled "One Touch" is probably the dead Seagate. If you click on the triangle on the right of that volume, it should open to folders that were on the dead volume but still contain references to the missing images in the catalog and all of the edits and adjustments that you made before the disk died. It is these image that we want to connect to their new location so that you do not lose any of your original work. Can you post a screen shot of these folders? Each missing folder should have a {?} beside the folder icon.
• And finally, the volume labeled "One Touch2" is your new volume and is showing 13364 images that you have RE-imported into your master catalog. These will have none of the edits from the work before. If you spend much time here reading of others problems, you will see oft repeated the admonition "Do Not Reimport". This tells me that this is not the master catalog that existed before you had your failed drive problem. I will remind you of my earlier instruction: "At this point your best plan would be to revert to the original master catalog file where everything is in place but LrC does not know where your images are located. Do you still have that catalog file or a backup catalog from that point?

How are we doing??

View attachment 26396

Wow - that will take me some time to get my head around this. I was taught to import from SD card and copy to external drive - but of course this just copies the raw file. I tried to back up manually once I had done editing to icloud, rather than rely on another HD that may fail. Give me time to work through everything and I will report back to you. Thank you again. I attach the locations panel as a starter

 

[janet.benson468]

A little more information.
All 2020 images are missing and this has been the case since the failed WD blue passport. I still have hopes that they are somewhere . 2021 are present and this makes me believe that you are quite correct in your assumption that this list is the dead seagate file - copied on to the new HD.
I attach a few screenshots of missing files. The one showing some missing images is just a snapshot as it goes further down the visible box.

 

[janet.benson468]

A little more information.
All 2020 images are missing and this has been the case since the failed WD blue passport. I still have hopes that they are somewhere . 2021 are present and this makes me believe that you are quite correct in your assumption that this list is the dead seagate file - copied on to the new HD.
I attach a few screenshots of missing files. The one showing some missing images is just a snapshot as it goes further down the visible box.

I don't know why the shot I mentioned hasn't loaded I will try again

 

[janet.benson468]

Here is another shot of some missing folders in One touch2

 

[clee01l]

Wow - that will take me some time to get my head around this. I was taught to import from SD card and copy to external drive - but of course this just copies the raw file. I tried to back up manually once I had done editing to icloud, rather than rely on another HD that may fail. Give me time to work through everything and I will report back to you. Thank you again. I attach the locations panel as a starter

Thanks for taking time to carefully read an reply to my requests.

In the mean time, I can comment on your Finder screen shot

This say that you have only two physical drives mounted "OneTouch2" = (the new drive) and "Onetouchti..." (Probably your Time Machine backup volume)
What does not make sense is the green icons in the Folder panel for "My Blue passport photos..." Green is the indicator for a mounted volume. and According to the Finder panel these are not present.

This is as I expected. the folder in the My Blue passport volumes are missing (?). and since the volumes are long gone, irretrievable. We can clean up the folder panel later.

This is a screen shot of "OneTouch2". I asked for a screen shot of "OneTouch".

Also this suggests the folder liste are missing (or at least not reconnected properly)

I will Ask Again: Do you still have that catalog file or a backup catalog from that point?

One of the things that is most frustrating about this volunteer effort is getting the people asking for help to follow directions completely I can understand why Califdan may have been irritated earlier. Please don't take offense. Not everyone can understand the directions if you are not that experienced. If you don't understand what is being asked, don't hesitate to ask for clarification.



How are we doing?

 

[janet.benson468]

Here is another shot of some missing folders in One touch2

Finally - I believe it is on the dead seagate disk - copied to the new disk. Might it also be in Time machine - faithfully saves but I'm not sure quite how to access it. I opened the new ext HD and this is a list of all the' .lrcats' My catalog that I was using was called, Dec 232021(original ) I see there are several versions. The one i (mistakenly) set up yesterday is called June 2025 and I download a bunch of images and added some more

 

[janet.benson468]

I do not take offence against anything you have said. I'm the one asking for help because I am in a mess.Your explanations have been straight forward - just needed time to get my head round them.
You should have the info re. catalogs now.
I do not have a screenshot of Onetouch unless you mean the time machine.
Again - I am very grateful for any help - especially volunteer help.
If I disappear for a while, it is due to domestic duties, but i will check in from time to time. We are in different time zones I think.

 

[clee01l]

I do not have a screenshot of Onetouch unless you mean the time machine.

What I am looking for is a screen shot of the folder panel with the volume "OneTouch" expanded to show the folders inside.

 

[janet.benson468]

I do not have a folder called One touch - just One touch2. The other one is time machine
This is One touch2 but i think I have already sent this
Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place

 

[clee01l]

Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place

Yes you need to look in the Lightroom Folder panel.

 

[clee01l]

I have another request. I want to see the contents of the volume that IS mounted called "One Touch2". To do this I am going to ask you to run a command using the terminal app that will write out a file named "Cletus.txt" of the results to your Desktop. You will then attach that file to a reply here. If the file is too big for the size limits of attached files we will need to look at other option to get me that file.

1. If you will open the applications, you can folder named "Utilities". Open that please.
2. In the Utility folder is the Terminal app.
   
   . Please open that.
3. You will see a window that looks something like mine:
   1. 
4. In the command line were you see the "%", I would like you to copy and paste this command: ls -R "/Volumes/One Touch2" > ~/Desktop/Cletus.txt
5. When you click {return}, the command will execute and write a new file named "Cletus.txt" in your Desktop folder.
6. If you can, please attach that file to your reply on this thread.

This and the information that the screen shot of the expanded One Touch in the LrC folder panel will give me the information that I need on the best approach to relinking the previously imported and cataloged image with the files and folders that were recovered from the failed Seagate drive.

We have lots of options to explore if this one does not work out. We have not even looked into what is backed up with timeMachine.
I looked at the catalogs listed and "Lightroom Catalog Dec232021 (original)-v13-3.lrcat" is the most likely master catalog. When upgrading to Lightroom Classic v14, the process did not change the old catalog name (...v13-3) as it used to do. as this is now a user option found on the file menu.

FWIW, your search was for ALL the volumes on "This Mac" not limited to "One Touch2". So with out further investigation it is not easy to say where this catalog is located.

Another think about TimeMachine backups. Unless you specifically included external volumes in your set up, TimeMachine by default excludes all external volumes only backing up "MacIntosh HD". If your image files are on an external volume like "One Touch" or "OneTouch2" or "My Blue passport photos..." they are not getting backed up.

If you stick with me long enough, we'll get that sorted out too.

 

[janet.benson468]

Sorry - getting to the end of the day for me
I think this is what you need. Thank you

 

[janet.benson468]

I've done that. It says it's too large

 

[janet.benson468]

I have another request. I want to see the contents of the volume that IS mounted called "One Touch2". To do this I am going to ask you to run a command using the terminal app that will write out a file named "Cletus.txt" of the results to your Desktop. You will then attach that file to a reply here. If the file is too big for the size limits of attached files we will need to look at other option to get me that file.

1. If you will open the applications, you can folder named "Utilities". Open that please.
2. In the Utility folder is the Terminal app.View attachment 26408. Please open that.
3. You will see a window that looks something like mine:
   1. View attachment 26409
4. In the command line were you see the "%", I would like you to copy and paste this command: ls -R "/Volumes/One Touch2" > ~/Desktop/Cletus.txt
5. When you click {return}, the command will execute and write a new file named "Cletus.txt" in your Desktop folder.
6. If you can, please attach that file to your reply on this thread.

This and the information that the screen shot of the expanded One Touch in the LrC folder panel will give me the information that I need on the best approach to relinking the previously imported and cataloged image with the files and folders that were recovered from the failed Seagate drive.

We have lots of options to explore if this one does not work out. We have not even looked into what is backed up with timeMachine.
I looked at the catalogs listed and "Lightroom Catalog Dec232021 (original)-v13-3.lrcat" is the most likely master catalog. When upgrading to Lightroom Classic v14, the process did not change the old catalog name (...v13-3) as it used to do. as this is now a user option found on the file menu.

FWIW, your search was for ALL the volumes on "This Mac" not limited to "One Touch2". So with out further investigation it is not easy to say where this catalog is located.

Another think about TimeMachine backups. Unless you specifically included external volumes in your set up, TimeMachine by default excludes all external volumes only backing up "MacIntosh HD". If your image files are on an external volume like "One Touch" or "OneTouch2" or "My Blue passport photos..." they are not getting backed up.

If you stick with me long enough, we'll get that sorted out too.

Thanks for the info on time machine. I am sticking with you.. We've got this far