Lost Catalogs

[toddm49691663]

I am using Lightroom CC on a MAC.  I have over 20 catalogs that I created.  I have not backed up and I have not had any crashes or computer issues.  My problem is almost all of my catalogs are missing.  There are only 8 of the 20 catalogs in my collections.  The rest are just gone.  I was working on a catalog last week and everything was in proper order.  I closed lightroom, enjoyed the holidays and came back yesterday to resume my work and the catalogs were gone.  I have searched my hard drive, looked in the existing catalogs in case they got merged, and there is nothing.  If I haven't backed up, haven't had any crashes or errors, and no one has touched lightroom since it was last used, can anyone explain what may have happened?  I had a 90 page book created that I was getting ready to order and it is all gone.

[dj_paige]

I doubt anyone here across the internet can tell you what happened.

Use your operating system to search for files whose name ends with .LRCAT. These are your catalog files. Double-click on each one found to open it.

From now on, you need to be making regular and automated backups of your catalog files. NO EXCUSES.

[toddm49691663]

There may be more to this situation.  I'm starting to see some quirky things that are different.  I have lightroom on two different computers, on a laptop and on my mac.  Prior to this situation, if I opened lightroom on the laptop, after using it on the MAC, I would get a message stating that I was already signed into lightroom on another system.  I would have to sign out of that in order to open lightroom on the other device.  Also, every time I have closed lightroom I was asked if I wanted to backup.  I am not getting that prompt anymore either, lightroom just closes.  It just isn't running how it was before.  I'm wondering if it's getting jumbled somehow between the two computers, though I don't know how.

[dj_paige]

toddm49691663 wrote:

There may be more to this situation. I'm starting to see some quirky things that are different. I have lightroom on two different computers, on a laptop and on my mac. Prior to this situation, if I opened lightroom on the laptop, after using it on the MAC, I would get a message stating that I was already signed into lightroom on another system. I would have to sign out of that in order to open lightroom on the other device. Also, every time I have closed lightroom I was asked if I wanted to backup. I am not getting that prompt anymore either, lightroom just closes. It just isn't running how it was before. I'm wondering if it's getting jumbled somehow between the two computers, though I don't know how.

In my opinion, all of this is unrelated to your original problem. Lightroom has been set up differently on the two computers, none of this relates to missing catalogs. You also don't state if you tried the suggestion I made.

[JP Hess]

You are allowed to have two installations from one Lightroom license. Have you installed Lightroom on more than two computers? How are you managing the catalogs between the two computers?