Lightroom automatically updated itself so when I just opened it ALL of my photos from the previous version are gone. Nothing transferred over. Is there a way I can recover these edited images that I was working on?
All of your previous work is in the old catalog that was part of the previous version. That catalog needs to be upgraded to the new version. When you first started Lightroom Classic CC it should have found that catalog and prompted you to allow it to upgrade the catalog. That would have created a new copy of that catalog, leaving the original catalog intact. Did that happen, Did it prompts you to upgrade the catalog?
Okay then, you need to get that previous catalog. If you are on Windows go to File->Open Recent and see if you have more than one catalog listed. If you are on a Mac I think you go to Lightroom->Open Recent to do the same thing. If there is a second catalog listed click on that catalog. It should be your previous catalog. If not, and you know where that catalog is located, close Lightroom and go to that folder and double-click on that older catalog. Lightroom will try to open the catalog and tell you that it needs to be upgraded and ask you if you want to do that. Allow that to happen. Lightroom will create a new copy of the catalog and append a -1 to the end of the name of it. After the conversion is completed Lightroom Classic CC should open that catalog and all of your previous work should be in place. Let's try that and see if it happens.
I tried finding the catalog but it doesn't seem to be anywhere. I'm not sure what happened, but at this point I may just have to start over. Thank you so much for the advice.
This just happened to me... Lightroom did an update and insisted I needed to update the catalog. It is NOT there.
I have tried opening the new catalog, the old catalog, and any other catalog. It says it is upgrading to the new Lightroom version, then it appears that I am in the new updated catalog... but no folders, no photos, no nothing.
I have had Lightroom for several years and this has never happened before with any upgrade. Please help ASAP!
I have been using Lightroom since version 2. Whenever there has been an upgrade (that's a change in version numbers) there has always been an upgrade in the catalog. That has always involved creating a new copy of the catalog. That process has created a new copy of the catalog which left the previous catalog intact and usable by the previous version of Lightroom. The new catalog always retained the same name, but would have a -2 appended to its name. I don't know what has happened in your case. That is what has always happened whenever I have upgraded. This did not occur with updates that occurred within version numbers, only when there were major upgrades.
I have done this many times. What I am saying, is that Lightroom does the upgrade on the catalog, but when that catalog is open - nothing is there. I have now tried it multiple times with the same result - just another added number to the catalog.
Right now the only option I see is to re-import all my photos - but it appears that by doing that I will have lost all my editing.
I have work to get done on Lightroom and this unintended upgrade is coming at a horrible time.
I have no other suggestions other than to look in the folder containing the Lightroom catalog(s). On Windows, the default location is in the Pictures folder and then in a Lightroom folder. The default extension is lrcat. Take a look at the dates and sizes and try to determine which one might be the most likely to have your most recent work in it. A program update really should not destroy all your work. That is something I have never experienced.
10
Replies
AdChoices