Master the skills of handling renamed and missing files in Lightroom with this comprehensive tutorial, covering the steps to locate moved or renamed photos, renaming a folder, and more.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Lightroom training materials and is compatible with Lightroom updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Lightroom, check out our Photo Retouching Certificate and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
Topics covered in this Lightroom tutorial:
Renaming files, Locating renamed files, Finding missing folders
Exercise Preview
Exercise Overview
In this exercise, you will learn how to find photos that have been moved or renamed. Additionally, you’ll learn how to rename a folder if it’s accidentally been renamed outside of Lightroom.
Renaming Files Outside Lightroom
If you have not completed the previous exercises (1A–2B), finish them now before beginning this exercise.
Make sure you’re in the Library module.
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We’re going to unlink files by renaming them outside of Lightroom, and later, we’ll try to locate them using Lightroom.
On the left, in the Folders panel, select the England subfolder.
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Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) the first photo and choose Show in Finder (Mac) or Show in Explorer (Windows).
Mac only: In the Finder window, make sure Column view
at the top of the window is selected. Click once on 20090503_YourName_001.nef, wait a second, then click on it again to make the filename editable.
Rename the file 20090503_YourName_001B.nef.
Rename 20090503_YourName_005.nef to 20090503_YourName_005B.nef.
Close the Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Windows) window.
Locating Renamed Files
Back in Lightroom, in the Catalog panel, click on All Photographs.
Notice the small exclamation point (!) on the renamed photos.
Click on the first photo (20090503_YourName_001).
In the top-right corner of its thumbnail, click on the exclamation point (!).
In the dialog box that appears asking to locate the missing file, click Locate.
Navigate into Class Files > Lightroom Class > Library > England.
Double–click on 20090503_YourName_001B.nef to choose it.
A dialog box appears asking to confirm if this is the correct file. Click Confirm.
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On top of the thumbnail, notice the new filename. However, if you look at the sheep photo, it still has the exclamation point indicating a missing photo. Its filename has not changed even though it’s in the same folder.
Unfortunately, if files are renamed (vs. simply being moved), you must manually locate them one by one.
Select the sheep photo thumbnail (20090503_YourName_005).
Click on the exclamation point (!) in the top-right corner of its thumbnail.
Click Locate.
In the England folder, double–click on 20090503_YourName_005B.nef.
Click Confirm.
Notice that Lightroom has indeed renamed the file, as seen in Grid View.
Finding Missing Folders
Let’s first rename a folder on the Desktop, then see how we can find it in Lightroom.
Minimize or hide Lightroom.
On the Desktop, navigate to Class Files > Lightroom Class and open the Library folder.
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Rename the England folder to France.
NOTE: If you get an error message not letting you change the name, you may have to close Lightroom before renaming, then reopen Lightroom when you are done.
Back in Lightroom, expand the Folders panel and then the Library folder. The England folder is grayed out and has a small question mark on it.
Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on England and select Find Missing Folder.
Navigate to Desktop > Class Files > Lightroom Class > Library.
Select the France folder and click Choose (Mac) or Select Folder (Windows).
In the Folders panel, the folder name now says France. But that’s not right—these photos were taken in England.
Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on France and select Rename.
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Type England and click Save.
Nice and organized! In the following exercise, you’ll see how to make quick, basic edits to some of these photos.
