Lightroom all of a sudden says "This file could not be found"?

[Guest]

This happened over night and I don't know what to do about it?

[ssprengel]

What is the context of this message? Are you viewing things in Library or Develop or Exporting or Printing? Are all the photos saying this or just one?

[Guest]

In Library all my folders have question marks next to them and in develop every single photo says "this file could not be found"

[ssprengel]

That usually means the photos are on an external drive or network connection and the drive or device name of that external drive has changed. Is that something that could have happened?

[rich_major]

hey, i have experienced the same thing..... how do i go about restoring the connection to the external drive?

[dj_paige]

Please see reply #8 in this thread.

[Guest]

I checked and I found some of the photos on a backup but a large amount are still missing. I never moved any of the files so I'm not sure how they could have all of a sudden lost a connection to the library.

[ssprengel · Accepted solution]

Photos aren't contained in the catalog, their locations and adjustment settings are, but the photos themselves are just on the hard-drive, somewhere.  If something else, outside of LR deleted those photos or moved them, then LR wouldn't know that, and indicate they are missing.

Are the photos still on your hard-drive or not?  And what is an example path where LR thinks they should be?

Are they in a different location on the hard-drive than they used to be?

When you Import photos into LR it remembers where they are, but if you do something to them outside of LR, not using LR's Folder Panel, then it will still expect them to be at the Import location, and if they are not, then you'll see question marks or exclamation points with a message about them not being where they originally were.

One mistake that could have been made, is that you imported photos into a LR catalog and that catalog remembers them one place, then you opened a new LR catalog and did a Move import, which would move them some other location and they'd be remembered in that second catalog correctly, but not in the first catalog, anymore.  If you only have one LR catalog then this is probably not what happened.

[Conrad C]

nateisgreat1996 wrote:

This happened over night and I don't know what to do about it?

Did you by any chance update to OS X 10.9.3 since last night? There is an Apple bug in 10.9.3 that hid the Users folder, which has been causing some software like Lightroom to be unable to find what's stored in the Users folder (like your Library).

If this turns out to be the cause, run Software Update and get the iTunes 11.2.1 update that fixes this problem.

[rinomom5]

I am having the same problem.  I can view the photos in the Library but I get the "file could not be found" message when I view them in Develop.  This only has happened with pics that I imported from an external hard drive.

[dj_paige]

http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

[jaclynk56738133]

my lightroom is saying this too!!!

[dj_paige]

jaclynk56738133 wrote:

my lightroom is saying this too!!!

My answer above applies to you as well

[charlesm78102991]

When importing images into the Library, is there a procedure to place the image somewhere that LR can access it when the CD or other origin is not on line.   When I import from a flash drive, the image is placed into a file accessible to LR; when I import from a CD the image is present in the library, but cannot be developed.  How can I avoid this?

Thanks

[JP Hess]

If you are importing from the CD using the Add option rather than the Copy option then you could generate smart previews that you could use for editing when the  CD has been removed. However, it would be necessary to have the CD inserted in order to export or print the  image.

[dj_paige]

Import from the CD using the Copy option, and then the photo itself will be stored on your hard disk where LR can access it.

[brionix]

I did not move any images that I edited. I imported my images from my external hard drive, edited them, and then when I go to Develop after editing the image the 'file could not be found'. But only after I edit them. This is a bug that needs to be fixed because I have to keep going back and importing the original image and the re-edit the image.

[dj_paige]

I don't think it is a bug. I think perhaps you accidentally imported the photos using the ADD option instead of COPY. Please check to see what folder Lightroom thinks the photos are located in.

[brionix]

Hello, Thank you for your response. I clicked Import but did not see an option for copy or or add. How do you check to see where lightroom stores photos?

[jwyttenbach]

I think I deleted the folder on my hardrive to make more space, not realizing it was the folder the pictures were saving to.  The images are still on my card (I HOPE!)  How do I get them back onto my computer?  LR won't let me even re-import.

[dj_paige]

Explain your situation in more detail. Lots more detail. Lots and lots more detail. Step-by-step what you did. Leave nothing out. Show us screen captures of what you see.

[patriciah69862879]

POSSIBLE SIMPLE SOLUTION

If Lightroom refuses to perform a task or recognize a file I have found that the simplest problem seems to be that I have used a character in the filename that is not allowed. It happens if you try to edit the photo, export the photo, etc.  Check it out. It may solve your problem.

[rodbirtles]

Hi. I am having the same problem. Over 50k images on my hard drive - all in exactly the same place, I can see them in explorer, but Lightroom has changed the drive letter from E to D (it is still called Intenso - the hard drive brand) and cannot find them in develop module. All folders have a ? beside them.

I have tried plugging the drive in to different USB ports - same result. I have also tried the library>find all missing files command - no change.

Any ideas please?

[dj_paige]

Lightroom didn't change the drive letter, Windows did. If you change the letter of the drive in Windows back to what it was previously, your problem should be gone.

[rodbirtles]

Thanks - that sorted it.