GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

With the update in June of 2020, I lost all the edits from my pictures as they were all imported from LR mobile and many duplicates were created. It looks like most of the pictures that I had marked with a "pick" are now missing (but actually are a copy of what I have).

Is it just me or is this Adobe?

I ran a duplicate finder plugin (teekesselchen) and then reviewed my folders. The plugin found over 10,000 duplicates (half of my photos). It took me a week to review all my photos. It seems there must have been an easier way to straighten this out. I noticed that Adobe created a "download preview" folder for all the folders that had duplicates (missing). I had to delete all of these "missing" photos; but I didn't feel comfortable doing this until I verified that I had a copy of the image in the regular folder. I organize by date_subject.

I started using LR in 2015 and I have imported my "picked" and edited photos to SmugMug up through 2019, so those are safe enough. However, if I wanted to go back to any picture and say change the crop on it, I can't do that because now any edits I made are "baked in".

What I don't understand is why I lost all my edits. This was one reason I started using LR, because of the non-destructive editing. I am too entrenched in the DAM to start over with a new program; but I am NOT happy with Adobe right now.

Anyone else experience this?

Update: Just to clarify, I discovered this problem when I did a search for missing photographs.

lesdmd Loc: Middleton Wi via N.Y.C. & Cleveland

I will venture a guess that the Lighroom catalogue became corrupted. If you have a backup you should be able to restore everything that was lost. If you are looking for your edits outside of Lightroom and its catalogue(s) they will not be there. The edits exist only as part of the catalogue.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You probably want to start by determining the following:

1) Are you using the LR Classic software on a laptop or desktop computer? When you add in words like "mobile", we already get concerned and confused about what your actual situation might be.

2) What version of LR Classic do you now have installed? This can be obtained from the Help Menu. Is this the current / newest Classic software from Adobe?

3) Do you have a catalog back-up with a datastamp back to before the entire problem started? If 'no', why not?

4) Are you storing your edit information as XMP 'sidecars' as well as within the LR catalog?

5) Where / how do you store your images? By way of example, Image001 stored in folder Location-A cannot be loaded as a duplicate when you have the check-mark set for 'skip suspected duplicates' at import. So, do you have 'duplicates' of say Image001 both in Location-A? Or, do you have of Image001 stored in multiple locations? If yes, why?

6) What is your desired resolution? Are you still "missing" images you had edited previously? How many new images have you added to the catalog since June 2020?

7) If you have "missing" images, where did they go? If Image001 did reside in Location-A, does Location-A even still exist? Was it on an external harddrive or local?

8) When the problem started in June that seemed significant, what did you do? Did you ask for help here? Did you contact Adobe? Did you locate the most recent back-up copy of the LR catalog? What did you do?

9) Have you contacted Adobe technical support for help? Answering / understanding these initial 7 questions will prepare yourself for a more effective discussion with Adobe to analyze and fix your situation. It will be helpful too, to not assume nor approach the problem that Adobe is to blame. If this issue was widespread and related to the ongoing LR updates, you'd see similar issues daily here in the Main section.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Great advice. I was going to ask if you had done a search for .xmp (sidecar) files using a utility such as Search Everything? (Much faster and more powerful than Windows search function).

Also, what was your disaster recovery and backup strategy? If your backup is unusable, do you have an off-site disaster recovery copy you might reclaim the sidecar files from (assuming they were saved)?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

So, a missing file isn't a disaster if you can restore the image file from back-up. Let's come back to Image001 that was last in Location-A. Taking the TriX comment, above, if all the edit information remains inside LR, but Image001 is missing, do you have Image001 in your back-ups? If yes, just copy Image001 back into Location-A. LR will immediately recognize this missing image is no longer missing.

Here is where we (you) need to better understand the specific technical details. We're not there onsite to see the situation ourselves. You may get much better help from Adobe who can remote into our system and inspect these issues directly.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

You can set preferences in Lightroom to store edits as xmp sidecars or within the images on non-raw files so that the edits then exist in the catalog and in the images.

The default is to store edits only in the catalog, but a quick preference setting can correct that.

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

I saw this article

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/20/21377411/adobe-lightroom-ios-ipados-app-update-pictures-photos-presets-deleted

djlouden Loc: Ocala, Florida

If you're using an iPhone maybe this will help

https://www.facebook.com/LauraShoeDigitalWorkshops/posts/10158430263029424

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

Are you using Lightroom Classic or Lightroom CC (now just called Lightroom)? Lightroom CC runs very differently from Lightroom Classic and has a different set of problems.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

I fouled up my earlier attempt at a reply. This is what I was trying to say -

Seen this?

https://petapixel.com/2020/08/20/lightroom-app-update-wipes-users-photos-and-presets-adobe-says-they-are-not-recoverable/

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

That pretty much covers it!!! Grrrrr!

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I didn't think that the catalogue was corrupted, and I didn't think about restoring from a backup. I back up my catalogue every time I close Lightroom. if I'm still having a problem, I will do that first. I do know that you cannot see your edits outside of Lightroom. Thank you for your help.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I will do my best to answer your questions:

1) I'm using Lightroom Classic on an iMac desktop computer. I do not use LRCC (what I call the mobile version).

2) I always keep Lightroom updated. I think I should have waited on that update since a fix for the problem was released after other users complained of losing edits just like I did. My current version is 9.3

3) I do have a catalogue backup but by the time I discovered the problem, I had already added and edited a fair number of images. Plus, I'm not exactly sure as to when the problem started. I said June because that's the date of all the additional "downloaded previews" Adobe added to my catalog. These contained the "missing" images.

4) Yes, I use XMP sidecars. I'm not sure what you mean by "as well as within the LR catalog".

5) All my images are stored on an external drive in a NAS setup which duplicates everything to another drive. Plus I have a third drive that I swap out every so often to protect my images from possible drive failure. When loading new images, I always check "skip duplicates".

6) All of the "missing" images had a copy in the catalog. I know that because when I clicked on the box to "locate the image", I got the message that it was already in the catalog. I have since marked all the missing images with an x and removed them, along with the folders they were kept in (downloaded previews) that apparently was created by Adobe because I didn't make those folders. I didn't notice that the edits were all missing until after I had done that. The resolution I would like to happen is to get back my edits. That could possibly happen by restoring an old catalog; but I would lose all the new work that I have done. According to Adobe, these edits cannot be recovered and they are sorry about that. REALLY?!!!!!!

7) As stated previously, I had 2 copies of the same image, one missing and one not missing. I did not import 2 of any of my images. All images are on an external drive as explained in question #5.

8) I sent a text to the Lightroom Queen about the problem because she has always been able to help me in the past. I have not heard back from her. I didn't see the point in contacting Adobe since I had manually fixed the duplicate/missing issue and they admitted that lost edits are unrecoverable.

9)Adobe IS TO BLAME! This is not an assumption.

I appreciate all you do to help in this situation. It's probably too late for me to get my desired resolution; but maybe bringing this up will help another Lightroom user.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I wish that I had seen that before I updated. I have been somewhat preoccupied taking care of a very sick husband and updated without thinking!!! Thank you for that.