Files won't link to LR5

[DanHigh]

I have LR5 on my desktop. I downloaded LR CC thinking I wanted to buy but changed my mind so it's deleted. However, in the process the files for the entirety of 2017 and 2018 became unlinked from LR5 (since they were linked to the LR CC instead automatically). I can see the files in the photo library on my Mac but I can't connect them to LR. What do I do?

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

LR CC copies photos to its own storage, so wouldn’t have moved your 2017/2018 files. Where does Lightroom think they should be? When you click on a question mark on a thumbnail, it’ll tell you. And where are the files now?

[DanHigh]

Thanks for helping, Victoria (does the fact that you are LR Queen make you Queen Victoria? that's great!). Right now I'm not sure where they are. I have a Mac. If I look at the photos section  in Finder, for 2017, there will be a section for the LR Library, and if I click on that it will open the LR CC icon which has expired and it will ask me if I want to buy it. If I look further down in the menu and click on an individual photo, it will not give a location, but it will open it in something resembling Photoshop. No location. Of note, when I had LR CC briefly for a day, the files disappeared for LR5, but thumbnails were on the space in CC where I could upload them.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

Lol I think that's where the nickname came from, yes.

Ignore Lightroom CC library for now. Adding photos to Lightroom CC would have copied the files, so the originals would still be where they were before you tried LRCC.

Lightroom 5 still opens ok as it did before? What can you see in there?

[DanHigh]

LR 5 seems to be just as before except that the folders for 2017 and 2018 are missing.

[DanHigh]

Just occurred to me -- could I just try the "Import from Another Catalog" dialog like I do when I come home from a trip and want to transfer files from my laptop to my desktop?

[DanHigh]

Eureka!! This seems to be working. I'll let you know. Thousands of photos so will take a while.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

I'm not clear on exactly what's working, but I'm pleased you're happy!! It sounds like you're perhaps importing from another LR5 catalog, perhaps a laptop one.

[DanHigh]

Yes, it worked. I clicked on the Import dialog and selected "Import from

photos and video". It gave me a number of choices, and I selected the

folders entitled 2017 and 2018, then after the thumbnails appeared, then

clicked Import. It separates the photos into folders, and keeps the folder

dates, but doesn't have the names I gave the folders so I'll have to go

back and do that but it's much better than losing the files. It even saved

the photos from the 3 days I was using the download of LR Classic CC (which

I downloaded so I could check out the new Sony a7Riii which I'd rented and

am going to buy). Thanks for your help. Long Live the Queen!!

On Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 12:54 PM, Victoria Bampton LR Queen <

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

The Import Photos & Videos command imports photos as if you're importing them for the first time, so you won't have any of the edits you'd done either. If you're ok with that, you're all set. But the edits for those folders and the named folders must be there somewhere.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

When you say they're missing, are they completely missing from the catalog, or are they marked with a question mark?

Import from catalog wouldn't help with importing from CC, but if the 2017/2018 photos were in LR5 before you trialled it, then they must still be in an LR5 catalog somewhere.