Basic troubleshooting steps to fix issues in Lightroom Classic

This document contains basic troubleshooting steps that solve most problems you can encounter while using Lightroom Classic. Try all the steps below before posting on the forums for Lightroom Classic specific issues.

Check to see if the issue you're encountering is a known issue in the latest release of Lightroom Classic.

See Known issues in Lightroom Classic.

Fix Lightroom Classic crashes

If you encounter a crash, you may do one of the following:

• Submit all crash reports. If you submit a crash report for a known issue and include your email address, you may receive a solution to correct the problem.
• Sometimes, you may see a pop-up window to check for compatibility issues. If Lightroom Classic detects an issue, it can give instructions on how to fix the problem.
• In Creative Cloud Diagnostic, select Check System. After the scan, the tool will provide a list of detected issues. These could range from hardware compatibility problems to software conflicts or outdated drivers. For each identified issue, the tool will suggest specific actions to resolve them. This might include updating drivers, adjusting system settings, or reinstalling certain components. Follow the recommended steps to address the issues. This should help improve the performance and stability of your Creative Cloud applications.
  
  

Get the latest camera support

The most commonly asked support question is "How do I get raw file support for the latest cameras?"

See Photoshop or Lightroom doesn't support my camera.

Install the latest Lightroom Classic updates

You can fix many problems by simply making sure that your Adobe software is up-to-date.

See Keep Lightroom Classic up to date.

Install operating system updates

You can fix many problems by simply making sure your operating system is up-to-date.

• For macOS, see Get software updates for your Mac.
• For Windows, see Windows Service Pack and Update Center.

Adobe recommends that you perform your own testing on a non-production partition to ensure that brand-new operating systems work well with your current hardware and drivers.

Creative Cloud doesn’t show available updates, or applications are in trial mode

Not seeing the available updates? Are your applications showing as trials?

See Available updates not listed.

I can't activate Lightroom Classic, or applications are in trial mode

Not able to activate Lightroom Classic, the Develop module is disabled, or applications are appearing as trials? See:

• Troubleshoot issues with Develop module
• Troubleshooting licensing errors | Creative Cloud

Install graphics card (GPU) driver updates

To troubleshoot your computer's graphics card GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and driver, see Troubleshoot graphics processor (GPU) and graphics driver issues | Lightroom Classic.

For more information on Lightroom Classic's utilization of your computer's graphics card GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), see Graphics processor (GPU) FAQ | Lightroom Classic.

Windows:

You can avoid GPU driver crashes, screen/document redraw, blue or X’d-out images, or color display issues by using the latest video drivers. Updated drivers are available from the card manufacturer’s website (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel).

macOS:

Your video drivers are included with your operating system updates. Make sure that you have installed all the latest OS updates by choosing Apple menu > About This Mac > Software Update.

Optimize Lightroom Classic’s performance

To optimize Lightroom Classic on your computer, see Optimize performance.

Calibrate your monitor

Corrupt monitor profiles affect both the performance and the color reproduction of Lightroom Classic.

Calibrate your monitor either by using your operating system’s calibration feature or a hardware colorimeter to create a good color profile for your monitor.

For more information on how to calibrate your monitor, see How (& Why) to Calibrate Your Monitor.

For answers to common questions asked about color in Lightroom Classic, see FAQ | Color in Lightroom.

Restore preferences

You can solve many abnormal and intermittent behavior issues by resetting the Lightroom Classic preferences to their factory-fresh state. 

To reset Lightroom Classic preferences:

1. Quit Lightroom Classic.
2. Start Lightroom Classic while holding the Shift + Option (macOS) or Shift + Alt keys (Windows). 

A dialog box asks if you want to Reset Preferences. 

3. Click Yes.

For more details, see Recover catalog and images after resetting preferences.

Troubleshoot Missing Photos

When in the Develop module, Lightroom Classic indicates that the photo could not be found, or is offline, or missing, or your images display a missing icon () in image cells in the Grid view and the Filmstrip.

See Locate missing photos.

Troubleshoot Catalogs

See Lightroom Classic catalog FAQ.

If you open Lightroom Classic and your catalog is empty or doesn't have all the images you're expecting, it's likely you've accidentally created a new catalog or opened the wrong or an old catalog. See 

• Get your correct catalog back
• Locate and verify your catalog

If you encounter the error 'The Lightroom catalog cannot be opened because another application already has it opened' when you launch Lightroom Classic.

See Error: Lightroom catalog cannot be opened.

Additional Catalog Resources:

• How Lightroom Classic catalogs work
• Benefits of using a single catalog
• Create and manage catalogs
• Back up a catalog

Troubleshoot Sync

To find quick answers to frequently asked questions about sync in Lightroom Classic, see Lightroom Classic sync FAQ.

Troubleshoot plug-ins

If you have installed many third-party plug-ins and are experiencing odd behavior in Lightroom Classic, troubleshoot the plug-ins next.

1. Check with the plug-in manufacturer to see if they have an update for your plug-in.
2. Disable problematic plug-ins using Lightroom Classic's Plug-in Manager:
   1. In Lightroom, choose File > Plug-in Manager.
   2. Click Disable for each of the listed plug-ins.
   3. Check if the problem is still occurring.
   4. If the problem is resolved, turn the plug-ins back on one by one.
   5. Check to see if the problem reoccurs after re-enabling each plug-in.
      

Lightroom Classic doesn't launch on Windows N edition

Lightroom Classic needs Windows Media Feature Pack to launch.

Here's how to install the Media Feature Pack on Windows 10 N and Windows 11 N:

• Windows 10 N:  Select the Start button, then select Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Optional features > Add a feature.  Then locate the Media Feature Pack in the list of available optional features.
• Windows 11 N:  Select the Start button, then select Settings > Apps > Optional features.  Select View features next to Add an optional feature, and then select the Media Feature Pack in the list of available optional features.

Troubleshoot user account permissions

If none of the troubleshooting steps above solve your problem, your problem may be related to user permissions.

Click Repair to Continue

If you get the Lightroom encountered user permission issues dialog box on launch, click Repair to Continue in the error dialog box.

Manually change folder permissions

Manually change the permissions on the following folders and all the items in these folders to Read & Write so that Adobe applications can write to these folders when opened or during use:

• /Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe/ 
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Lightroom/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Caches/Adobe/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Caches/Adobe/Lightroom/ 
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Caches/Adobe Camera Raw 2/ 
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/ 
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
• /Users/[user name]/Documents/Adobe/
• /Users/[user name]/Documents/LrClassicLogs/ 
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Logs/Adobe/
  

Do the following:

1.   Open the user Library folder. To do so, press Option and choose Go > Library in the Finder.

2.   Change the permission on these folders and all items within these folders to Read & Write. To perform the permission changes, refer to the topics Assign permissions to users and groups and Apply permissions to all items in a folder or a disk in the Apple article Set permissions for items on your Mac.

3.    Launch Lightroom.        

Use a script to restore permissions

If the previous solution does not resolve the folder permission issue, try this easy-to-run, shell-script-based solution explained below. This shell-script automatically restores the ownership and read/write permission, and it removes Access Control List (ACL) from the set of Adobe user folders and its subfolders.

To run the shell script, do the following:

1. Download LightroomCorrectPermission.zip using the above link. By default, the file is downloaded to /Users/[user name]/Downloads/LightroomCorrectPermission.zip.
   
2. Unzip the downloaded zip file to extract the LightroomCorrectPermission.sh shell script file.
3. On your Mac desktop, type Terminal in the Spotlight search box and launch the Terminal app.
4. From the Finder, drag the unzipped LightroomCorrectPermission.sh shell-script file (from step 2) onto the Terminal window. You see the following text in the terminal window:
   /Users/[username]/Downloads/LightroomCorrectPermission.sh
5. Press Enter to run the shell script.
   
6. When prompted, enter your Mac login credentials.
   Note: Ensure that you use the account with administrator privilege to log in.
7. Launch Lightroom.

Set up a new admin user account

Create an admin user account to identify permissions problems. For instructions on creating an admin user account, see the following: 

macOS:

• How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

If you still experience trouble on macOS, try repairing the permissions on the disk. For details, see Repair disk permissions with Disk Utility.

Windows:

• Create local administrator account | Windows

After you create the admin user account, log in to the new user and run Lightroom Classic to see if the problem goes away.

Start in safe mode to troubleshoot system add-ons and utilities

Sometimes, third-party extensions and other utilities can interfere with Lightroom Classic’s operation.

If you start your computer in safe mode, third-party extensions and utilities are turned off, which can help solve your problem.

macOS:

• Starting up in safe mode: On macOS, safe mode disables all third-party extensions and startup items. It runs only required kernel extensions and Apple-installed startup items.

Windows:

• Start your computer in safe mode: On Windows, safe mode starts Windows with a limited set of files and drivers.

Additional troubleshooting

Try all the steps above before posting on the forums for Lightroom Classic-specific issues.

If you have a how-to question or question about changes in behavior between Lightroom Classic versions, see the following:

• Common Questions
• New features summary
• Known issues
• Lightroom Classic User Guide

If you need additional general troubleshooting help, see the following:

• Resolve issues that occur when you download, install, update, or launch Creative Cloud apps

If you need help with app installation/downloads or your Creative Cloud membership, see the following:

• Download and installation 
  
• Adobe ID, sign-in, and account
• Manage your Creative Cloud membership