martinhelene

I am going to wait for my computer literate son to come home and try out these suggestions (will be in a few weeks). Still not sure why these files ever went "missing" since I always simply upload them from my camera to Photoshop Elements. These pictures were worked on by me and uploaded to Smugmug in 2017. This week, I had wanted to email a few of them directly from Photoshop Elements and now they cannot be retouched or emailed. They are now "missing" but I can clearly see them in Photoshop Elements. I certainly don't want any other pictures to go "missing" in the future.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Computer-literate family are a valuable resource All the best.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I see this problem crop up constantly on the forum. Just a rant of mine. The OP needs some computer training on "where do my files go". Then apply that to an understanding of what the Organizer data base does and doesn't do. Otherwise we can offer all the advise in the world and its like speaking a foreign language. I hope the OP gets this figured out. Each Elements version may give a different screen image for the tasks and thus add to the confusion.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I couldn't agree more. The OP should pay very close attention to the computer literate person coming to help. The first thing people need to learn about computers is the file structure. This is so important that I can't stress it enough. And like Gvarner said, Organizer is but a database with other functions as well. Pictures don't go into the Organizer, they are simply cataloged in the Organizer database and thumbnails created so you can see what you have. If the actual file has been moved or deleted by ANY other application other than the PSE Organizer, you get the question mark/exclamation mark.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Not knowing everything about the circumstances - when was the last time you tried to access any of them? If it was in 2017 when you put them on Smugmug could you have accidentally "moved" them to Smugmug's cloud storage. Try accessing your Smugmug account and checking to see if they are there. I have never used Smugmug but from something I read I do believe that all pictures posted there can be accessed and downloaded back to your computer.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Sadly this issue or problems does seem to have a lot to do with the user's computer skills. Notice how you rarely or never get these types of question from Photophop CS or CC users. Adobe Bridge seems to work pretty much like Windows File Explorer. Nothing seems to get "lost" for me, I only have to remember where a folder is or search for it. A Mac should be even easier to keep track of files.

When did PSE get to be so Lr - like? I remember PSE version 6 working pretty much like a primitive version of Ps.