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Corrupted Catalog

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Joelle

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Joined
Aug 22, 2016
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Hello everyone!
I am new to this site and am here because as you can see from the title, I have a big problem.
I don't even know where to start...The message I was/am receiving is " The Lightroom Catalog is corrupt and cannot be used or backed up until it is repaired" I tried repairing, nothing happens.
Right now where I am at is someone restored the catalog and most everything was lost except for a few collections. It shows there are x amount of images in the collection but they are just empty boxes, I'm assuming not attached to the original file...? These collections are done and I was just waiting to export them so I would love nothing more than to not lose all that work.

From what I've read this would be no big deal had I backed up my Catalogs. Trust me, I have learned my lesson because I don't have a backup and I now see why that would have been a great idea. When it comes to Lightroom, I know how to edit a photo and that's where my knowledge ends. I'm embarrassed with myself that this happened and I know going forward I am going to do things differently so this doesn't happen again. In the meantime, I'm desperate for help. I really have no idea what I'm doing and would appreciate any help you can offer.
 
Here are two screenshots of what the restored Catalog looks like right now
 

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Just to clarify... LR frequently will ask to backup when you exit (I do not recall what the default is, but I think the default is to ask occasionally).

You never said yes? Never?

The default location I think is in a folder inside the same folder as the catalog, and I think it says something like "Catalog Backups" or "LR Catalog Backups". Nothing like that anywhere?

I hate to belabor a sore point if you are sure, but sometimes people don't even realize they may have catalog backups just from exiting and saying yes, in the last.

And you haven't backed up the computer itself, ever? So you don't have a backup, like on a external drive or cloud backup?
 
Also, make sure you've read:

Disaster strikes - a corrupted catalog! | The Lightroom Queen

Mostly because it shows some clues how to look for backups.

Someone will likely show up soon who may be helpful in actually fixing it if corrupt, I just wanted to make sure you've exhausted all possibility of backups before you start changing things.
 
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