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Due to space issues, I initially imported photos while still on a SD card.

After getting rid of all the unwanted shots, I then shut down Lightroom and moved my photos from the SD card onto my hard drive and removed the SD card.

I am now stuck in some kind of Lightroom purgatory where my original imported folder disappeared completely (since the drive was unmapped) and when I try to re-import to a new folder, all the photos are marked as duplicates / disabled and LightRoom will not let me force a re-import.

I've been stuck with this for a while. I don't see any clear way to force LightRoom to let me import. it just keeps insisting it won't let me re-import because LightRoom knows best! :)

What's the best way to deal with this now? Is it possible to find the disconnected folder and re-map its source?

According to one article I should be able to do this: screenshot of Find Missing Folder... context menu selection

but I can't find the folder that was on a separate drive, and thus not on my list now.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Have you browsed to the folder your copied images live in on the other drive? \$\endgroup\$
    – Crazy Dino
    Aug 10, 2017 at 15:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ @CrazyDino it no longer exists since i moved it to my hard drive. even if i plug my sd card back in, the folder does not re-appear. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sonic Soul
    Aug 10, 2017 at 16:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ Point it to the folder containing the images on the hard drive? Lightrooms quite smart. \$\endgroup\$
    – Crazy Dino
    Aug 10, 2017 at 16:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ @CrazyDino there is nothing to point. when i browse to that folder in lightroom, all images are grayed out. i can try importing a new folder, and when i select new folder where the images are moved, everything is grayed out (including import button). LR thinks it's already imported. LR is too smart for its own good \$\endgroup\$
    – Sonic Soul
    Aug 10, 2017 at 16:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ In which view did you try to find it? Library? Import? \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerhardh
    Aug 11, 2017 at 0:05

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I have a solution.

There is a don't import duplicates checkbox on the Import screen.

Unchecking it let me import the thing again. Although I realize that any changes I made on the previous folder will not be present on this import.

as Gerhardh pointed out, best solution is to do whatever is necessary to find original folder in the library and then move it's source file location.

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    \$\begingroup\$ As everything ist gone, you should never ever import again. It is essential to find the folders for existing pictures. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerhardh
    Aug 11, 2017 at 0:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Gerhardh i have that a try for half hour.. unfortunately i'm not a socialite with unlimited time :) i can see how this is doable on my regular HD folders that were removed.. but not on sd card \$\endgroup\$
    – Sonic Soul
    Aug 11, 2017 at 13:03

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