Adobe Lightroom Update May Have Deleted Some User Photos - Olmec Skip to main content

Adobe Lightroom Update May Have Deleted Some User Photos

By August 29, 2020May 5th, 2022Technology News

Recently, Adobe released version 5.4 of Lightroom. It is a popular photo editing app used by a wide range if iOS devices. Unfortunately, the update may have done more harm than good.

Many iOS users who installed the update have discovered that their photos and custom present filters were permanently deleted.

The only people spared from such a fate were those who paid for a subscription to sync their files to Adobe’s cloud solution.

Rikk Flohr, an Adobe representative, confirmed that this was indeed a side effect of installing Lightroom version 5.4 on iOS devices. Curiously, the update for the Lightroom app on macOS and Android devices were not impacted in this manner.

If you have an iOS device and use Lightroom, don’t install the 5.4 update. Adobe has subsequently released a fix in the form up Lightroom for iOS 5.4.1, which is confirmed not to delete user files.

Unfortunately, if you have already installed version 5.4 and you aren’t paying for a subscription to the Adobe Cloud, the company confirms that there is no fix for the issue. Your lost photos simply cannot be recovered.

Needless to say, this is infuriating, and then some. Currently, there’s a tremendous uproar on Reddit and other sites around the web, with some users having lost several years’ worth of saved photos. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of botched updates that have led to a wide range of unexpected side effects ranging from the mildly annoying to the dangerous. Few have been as bad as this.

People cherish their photo collections and often have hundreds, or even thousands of digital memories. For a photo editing app to simply demolish all that in the blink of an eye is a weighty blow. It’s going to take a long time for Adobe to win back the trust of the iOS community. It may not even be possible.

For now, just be sure to back up your photos or files in a few ways, just to be safe from unexpected incidents like these.

Jason Manteiga

Jason J. Manteiga, Vice President of Olmec Systems, has been part of the company for over the past 20 years. He believes that having a great work environment and supportive team, is the ultimate key to success. Since being in the IT realm for over 25 years, Jason, along with Olmec Systems, has been on the Inc. 5000 “List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies” and Channel Futures MSP 501 “Top Managed Service Providers in North America,” along with other awards and nominations. Jason earned his Bachelor Degree in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also holds certifications in Microsoft MCSE, VMWare VCP, and Cisco CCNA. In his spare time, Jason is a contributor for The Center for Social & Legal Research (Privacy Exchange) and a member of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce. His hobbies include cycling and kayaking. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife, two daughters and son.