Hard drive full, missing RAW images

[SummerShaddow]

I'm pretty new to Lr and have had a lot of issues.  I've read and read for hours and hours and days and days and have only run across a hundred ways to do something, which hasn't helped me so far, and my HD is so full very little works now.

In a nutshell:

When I open Lr now EVERYTHING says that the original file is missing.  I've no idea why this is since I've not moved or renamed anything.  I honestly have NO idea what's going on, but I've spent all my time trying to fix this issue, rather than shooting and working on my photos.  Productivity has come to an abrupt halt.

I've tried to use the option where you find the missing file, but even doing that... isn't working.

When I go into my HD location, USERS, my name, and then PICTURES... the  folders "Lightroom"  and "2017" are there.

In the folder named "2017" is another folder named "2017-07-27," and inside THAT folder is a bunch of images (NEF and JPG) and their corresponding XMP files AND yet another folder titled "2017,' and inside THAT folder is 5 other folders with dates.

The folders within folders with images and more folders etc confuses the heck out of me, but it 'appears' all the images and files are inside all of those folders, and I've NO clue what to do with them at this point.  Lr will SEE the images when I choose that location on the left panel while viewing.  Maybe I'm misunderstanding what I'm supposed to be looking at etc., and maybe those previews from the import from my camera (I don't have a card reader) have been auto-deleted.

My BIGGEST problem at the moment is that I BARELY have enough space on my computer to do anything, and that's no exaggeration.  I get low disk space in Lr and the program won't allow me to to even shut it down.  I have to literally restart the computer to get Lr to shut down.

I've been reading for days on end about how to get all those image files and corresponding XMP files to my external drive and have, as mentioned before, only become more confused by the conflicting information out there.  And most of the info is for much older versions of Lr.

Even though I deleted a lot of stuff off my MacBook Pro... I have even LESS storage space now than before I deleted things, which I also don't understand.

How on earth do I solve this problem before my HD ends up crashing or locking up completely?

How do I get the actual RAW images off my local HD and onto the external asap and make it so Lr is able to SEE them?

Oh, I also copied the image folders onto the external to see if I could even import them from there, and Lr just doesn't want me to do that.  So, I'm not sure what to do.

ANY help in solving this would be a Godsend as I've not been able to do anything in days other than keep researching and reading a million different ways to do this, most of which isn't working.

Thanks in advance.

[Rob_Cullen · Accepted solution]

EVERYTHING says that the original file is missing

Well something has changed for Lr to lose the link to your photos! Either by renaming, moving or deleting folders or photos.

In the folder named "2017" is another folder named "2017-07-27,"

This is caused by your Import method and the selection of locations in the Destination panel.

Do not be too concerned with this until you get the folders re-linked to the catalog.

I also copied the image folders onto the external to see if I could even import them from there

First- Do NOT try to Import!  This only makes more confusion.

If  (and that is a big "IF") you copied the {Pictures} folder and all its sub-folders maintaining the exact same folder structure (and naming!), then you can re-link the 'external drive' folders to the catalog by-

1.Open the Catalog

2. Right-click on the {Pictures} folder in the folder panel

3. Select [Update Folder Location]

4. In the Finder window navigate to the copied {Pictures} folder on the External drive.

5. Click [Select Folder]

Now when the Catalog is working with the photos on the External drive you can delete sub-folders in {Pictures} from the internal drive.

So reply back when you can see your photos on the External drive, and they are NOT 'missing'.

Some links for information-

Reconnecting Missing Folders and Photos in Lightroom CC >

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/