Basic troubleshooting steps to fix issues in Lightroom

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

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

See Known issues in Lightroom.

Get the latest camera support

One of the most commonly asked questions 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 updates

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

See Keep Lightroom up to date.

Install operating system updates

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

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

When a new major OS update is released, Adobe recommends that you perform your own testing on a non-production partition to ensure that the brand-new OS works 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, or applications are in trial mode

Not able to activate Lightroom or applications are appearing as trials?

See 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.

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

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.

Calibrate your monitor

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

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.

Restore preferences

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

To reset Lightroom preferences:

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

A dialog box asks if you want to Reset Preferences. 

3. Click Yes.

Troubleshoot user account permissions

If none of the above troubleshooting steps solve your problem, user permissions may need some attention.

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 on all the items in these folders to Read & Write, so that Adobe applications are able to write to these folders when opened or during use:

• /Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Caches/Adobe/
• /Users/[user name]/Documents/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 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'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-specific issues.

If you have a how-to question or questions about what's in the Lightroom updates, see the following:

• Common Questions
• New features summary
• Known issues
• Lightroom 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