Lightroom folder structure gone

[dancnbutterfly]

I have my photos grouped by year in Lightroom 6.5, and then by project.  However, when I click on 2015 all my photos are there, but they are not in their folders. They are pretty much in order of how they were in folders before. The folders are gone but not the photos. How do I get them back into folders so I can find them when I am looking for a particular photo?

[Todd Shaner]

Try right-clicking on any one of the images and select 'Got to Folder In Library.' This should take you to the folder and expand the folder tree in the left panel. You can also click on the arrow next to the top level 2015 folder.

[dancnbutterfly]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.  However, I right clicked on a photo and then on "Go to folder in library" and nothing happened.

When I click on the arrow beside my 2015 folder it does not have a drop down menu. The arrow itself has a dotted appearance. There are over 2,000 photos in my 2015 folder.

[Todd Shaner]

Right-Click on the 2015 folder and select 'Show in Explorer/Finder.' Do you see any subfolders or are all 2,000 image files in the single 2015 main folder? If no subfolders are present please explain in detail how you imported, moved, or otherwise arranged your 2015 image files into month subfolders. Also did you at any time actually confirm from inside LR, Explorer, or Finder that the files were actually in subfolders under the top-level 2015 main older?

[dancnbutterfly]

Thanks so much for your time. I opened in Finder.  The folders are still there, but they are all empty.  The photos are in alphabetical order along with the empty folders. They were inside the correct folders at one time.  I am not sure what I did to cause this to happen.

[Todd Shaner]

dancnbutterfly  wrote

They were inside the correct folders at one time.  I am not sure what I did to cause this to happen.

The only way to determine what happened is for you to provide full details on the Import module settings used to get the files inside LR and any file or folder renaming or moving of image files that you performed both inside or outside (i.e. Finder) LR. The more details the better!

You may have had Library menu item 'Show Photos in Subfolders' checked and were attempting to move some files, but had ALL files selected. If they were dragged and dropped to the top-level 2015 folder all of the files would be moved out of their subfolders. There are numerous other possibilities, which only you can reveal with the requested details.

[dancnbutterfly]

Hope your having a "peachy" day!

Thank you again for your time.

I right clicked on the 2015 folder and opened in Finder.  I can manually put the photos back into the folders.  How can I get Lightroom to recognize that they are back int the folders.  Synchronize Fodler?

Thanks,

~Jann _*~

[Brad_Polt-Jones]

Does your 2015 Lightroom folder also have a question mark on it? If so, you need to re-establish the link to the folder within Lightroom. Right click (or Control click) on the 2015 folder and choose Find Missing Folder, select the correct location in the dialog and then Choose.

[dancnbutterfly]

Hope your having a "peachy" day!

Thanks again for your response. 

No, there is no question mark on the 2015 folder.  When I click on the 2015 folder, I can see all of the photos. However, there are no folders, just all of the photos. 

When I look at the photos by right clicking on 2015 and use "show in Finder" as you suggested earlier, the photos are in their folders.

~Jann _*~

[Todd Shaner]

Please post a screenshot of the Library module in Grid view with the 2015 folder selected. Also post a 2nd screenshot of the 2015 folder showing the subfolders in Windows Explorer.

[Brad_Polt-Jones]

I have to ask, because everything should be working properly if you can see the 2015 folder in Lightroom. You have clicked on the expansion arrow next to the 2015 folder to expand the contents? If the folder is collapsed, you wont see any subfolders in Lightroom. If they are visible in the Finder, then they should be visible in Lightroom.

[dancnbutterfly]

The arrow beside the 2015 folder is dotted. I cannot expand it because there are no subfolders....

[Brad_Polt-Jones]

The last option that I can think of is to Synchronize the 2015 folder in Lightroom. Right click on the 2015 folder and choose Synchronize Folder.

If that doesn't work, then try making a new temporary Catalog, call it Test, and import the 2015 folder into it. Do the the sub-folders appear now in the new catalog?

[Todd Shaner]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Brad+Polt-Jones  wrote

The last option that I can think of is to Synchronize the 2015 folder in Lightroom. Right click on the 2015 folder and choose Synchronize Folder.

Just keep in mind that if you use Synchronize folder the image files in the subfolders will be re-imported into LR and you will lose all editing applied to the files. Do the current image files showing in the main 2015 folder have edits, keywords, collections, rating, etc. visible inside LR?

[dancnbutterfly]

[Todd Shaner]

dancnbutterfly  wrote

I right clicked on the 2015 folder and opened in Finder.  I can manually put the photos back into the folders.  How can I get Lightroom to recognize that they are back int the folders.  Synchronize Fodler?

As Brad Polt-Jones mentioned if a folders has a ? mark icon it means the folder was deleted or moved from outside of LR (i.e. in Finder or Explorer). If a file has a ? or ! icon it means the file was deleted or moved from outside of LR (i.e. in Finder or Explorer). Files and folders should never moved, renamed, or deleted using Finder or Explorer, which will cause them to be "lost" inside LR.

If none of the files or folders have ? or ! icons on them then it means you moved the files from inside LR (good!) as I described in my reply #5. To prevent losing your edits, keywords, collections, etc. and any other work applied to those files you must manually move the files back to their original subfolder locations from inside LR. If you have Keywords or Attributes applied to the files that correlate to the subfolder naming you can use the Library Filter Bar to reassociate the files to their original folders. You then need to drag & drop the files inside LR from their current location back to the correct folder.

How to find photos in a catalog in Lightroom