UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I use a 2017 MacBookPro and the subscription Lightroom. Because my version of the MacBook has a 500G capacity and cannot be added to, I added an 8TB external hard drive dedicated to my photos. My memory cards are downloaded directly to the external hard drive through Image Capture.

I was surprised to have the MacBook indicate a need to create more space, but I went through the suggested adjustments. One area was "large documents". These turned out to be the high MP shots (85). In that I thought everything was on the external hard drive, I deleted some of these.

When I went back to Lightroom, these photos are missing. When I clicked on the empty box to find the origin of the photo, it indicated the source was a Mac Pictures file -NOT the external hard drive.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong or what happened since I thought that everything was on the hard drive?

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Not a clue Mike
I have been using iMac's since 2003 never had a problem with external drives. However I down load directly to the external drive, I use no software for the transfer so Never had a problem.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Well, from your description it sounds as though you did in fact load those 85 image files to the main drive (no doubt inadvertently) and then deleted them when the OSX suggestion popped up. In other words, you thought wrong about where those images were located.

Understand that LR does not "import" actual images; it creates what are called "pointers" to keep track of where the images are. So when you deleted the 85 files, LR discovered the pointers (which were apparently pointing to the files on the main hard drive, not the external)did not point to images any longer.

All is not lost (unless you did an "empty trash") - you can open the trash folder (go to the tray, move your mouse all the way to the right and double click on the trash can icon) and then drag the image files out of the trash can. Move those 85 files over to the external drive, then launch LR and right-click on the "lost image files" icons to point LR to their new location.

If you did empty the trash, you are SOL and will need to grab the image files from your backup disk.

jodo4138 Loc: Long Island NY

Everything needs to be done in LR. Delete the photo in LR

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Or move the photo in LR.

The only thing that doesn't need to be done in LR is downloading the photos from the card. Once you do that, you can import them into LR. You need to tell LR where they are, so there are two checks on where you put your photos: once in the download and once in the import. Two chances to check that they're on the external drive.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

You failed to navigate through the menu system to send the images to the hard drive. LR automatically sends all image to the Pictures folder.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

This response ignores what the OP actually said he did.

mjmoly

I have a similar setup. But I do use a different protocol to get my images into LR. Actually, there are two subroutines I use. The first is to download the images from the card directly to my desktop. Then I import them into LR (where all the catalogues and images are stored on one or more external drives.) The second variation is to simply plug the card into the reader and then go to LR for import. You can then locate the source using LR's options. Both of these work fine. I've been using this system for more than ten years. Check it out.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Try calling the mother ship @ Apple. They have methods of searching HDs to retrieve some deleted files. Be careful how you tell them of your problem, Apple-Care isn't what it used to be. You will need a senior tech rep. Good luck.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I have already made one call to Apple Care. I may have to try again.