How can I force the Pictures app to refresh its library?

Question

I've imported some pictures to my "My Pictures" folder using Adobe Lightroom, but the Pictures app doesn't seem to notice the new files? Is there some way to force it to refresh its library?

To be clear,

Pictures are sorted under C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\ by year, then date; for example: C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\2012\2012-10-20, these show, however those in C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\2012\2012-10-29 do not, despite coming from the same camera, being in the same format, thumbnails working in Exporer, the pictures opening in the Pictures app via a double click in explorer, and Windows Media Centre having no problems.

I have tried excluding the Pictures library, and reincluding it, but that had no effect. It has taken three or four reboots for even the folders to show up in the app, but it reports them as empty

Solution 1

This can happen if Windows Search hasn't had a chance to index the photos yet, or the index is corrupt. Rebuilding the index can force the pictures app to rebuild its own index.

to rebuild the index, or ensure the relevant folders are included from the Start screen, type Indexing Options and choose the option of that name that appears under the "settings" section.

If the option doesn't appear, it may be due to the search service having been disabled (for example, to install Outlook 2013 on x64), so it would need to be reinstalled from control panel.

Solution 2

I had the same issue and was able to fix it by following the instructions in the first post in this thread: I closed the Windows Photos App, then navigated to the folder

%localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState

and deleted its contents. When I started the Photos App again, everything was OK.

Comments

[Karan]

So the images have actually been copied to C:\Users\<username>\Pictures, or did you simply add some location to the Pictures Library?

[Justin Love]

Strictly speaking, they are in a folder structure C:\Users\<username>\Pictures\2012\2012-11-03 (and other folders under 2012 show OK)

[Karan]

Does a logoff/logon or a reboot help refresh the cache?

[Justin Love]

@Karan no, have completely shut down/rebooted since adding the newer photos

[pratnala]

do the photos open with the photos app? go to the folder and open those pics with the app. if they don't then that might be the reason

[Justin Love]

@PratyushNalam the photos do open with the photos app with no problem

[mcandre]

@RowlandShaw My mistake was thinking you meant the Photos Metro app, when you really did mean the Pictures app.

[Justin Love]

@mcandre I do mean the app with the tile titled "Photos", I also am only referring to photos that are on the local disc that will load in same said app if double clicked in Explorer

[Admin]

I have the same issue. I upgraded my existing win7 and there are many photos in my picture library and none appear in the Photo app. when I click on them in the file explorer they open in the photo app. I have tried to un-install and re-install the photo app and nothing seemsto help

[Henrik Söderlund]

You need to import the photos in the Photos app right? Like you would inside Lightroom to see any images there... Try the Import command in the Photos app.

[Justin Love]

@HenrikSöderlund Import explicitly excludes locations that are part of the pictures library for import, so that isn't an option