How can I fix Lightroom seeing all Dropbox photos as new after the Dropbox folder path changed?
Asked 4/19/2014
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2 answers
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I store my photo library in Dropbox and manage it in Lightroom on a Mac. Dropbox recently renamed the main folder and left a symlink from the old path to the new one. Lightroom can still access the files through the old path, but when I use Synchronize Folder it wants to mark all existing photos as missing and re-import them as new photos.
Is there a way to repair the catalog so Lightroom recognizes the files at the new Dropbox path without losing edits, keywords, and other catalog data?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
2
Here's how I resolved it: I used a backup file of my Lightroom catalog and instead of changing the root folder directly in Lightroom's user interface (because for some reason this always lead to the exact same issue as mentioned above), I had to directly change the Lightroom catalog file.
I used an sqlite editor to open the file and change the root folder path directly in the file in the relevant table (I'm specifically not providing more details as you will figure it out if you are familiar with databases; if you are not familiar with this you will likely destroy the catalog file this way and it's better to ask somebody who can help with this).
Originally by user27519. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27519
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this can happen when Lightroom’s catalog still points to the old root path, even though macOS can follow the symlink. The reported fix was to correct the root folder path inside the Lightroom catalog database itself.
Important: back up your .lrcat catalog first and quit Lightroom before doing anything.
The community solution was:
- Open the Lightroom .lrcat file with a SQLite editor.
- In the AgLibraryRootFolder table, update the stored root-folder path fields so they exactly match the current Dropbox folder path.
- Save the changes, then reopen Lightroom and test folder synchronization.
This resolved the issue for the users who reported it.
Caution: editing a Lightroom catalog directly is risky and can corrupt the catalog if done incorrectly. If you are not comfortable working with SQLite/database files, it’s safer to get help from someone experienced before attempting it.
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