Lightroom keywords not showing?

Start where the keywords first disappear

Choose one photograph with an accessible original. Write down its exact filename and a few accurate terms you expect to find. Keep the original and existing working sheet while investigating. The table gives you a starting point rather than a diagnosis of every possible fault.

1. Check one selected photograph in Lightroom Classic

In the Library module, select one photo and look at its Keywording panel. The Keyword List describes the catalogue; a term’s presence there does not mean it is applied to this particular frame. With several photos selected, an asterisk can indicate a term that is not shared by all of them.

Review the actual subject and crop before adding a missing term. An organisational label for a whole trip may be useful privately without accurately describing every photograph. Avoid copying the complete catalogue dictionary into an image’s keywords.

2. Check the keyword’s export controls

Open the tag’s settings from the Keyword List. Include On Export controls whether that term accompanies an export. Separate options govern parent terms and synonyms. Review the Keywording panel’s Will Export view to see the intended output rather than assuming every level of a hierarchy will appear.

Keep these choices deliberate. For example, an internal project label may stay private while an accurate subject name exports. The aim is to recover useful public metadata, not to publish every organisational tag.

3. Inspect the JPEG export’s metadata selection

For a JPEG, review the Metadata section of the export dialog. A selection restricted to copyright, or copyright and contact details, leaves out descriptive keywords. All and All Except Camera Raw & Camera Info retain descriptive metadata; review which personal details should accompany the file before exporting. Location removal is a separate GPS control; also inspect place names written into titles or keywords.

Export one fresh JPEG into a separate test folder with an unmistakable filename. Compare that file with the expected terms. This avoids confusing an earlier export with the file produced after a setting change. Record the application version and settings in the downloadable checklist.

4. Compare the saved JPEG with the agency’s fields

Inspect the saved JPEG with a metadata-aware application. A viewer with no displayed keyword field is not conclusive evidence that the data is absent. If necessary, import the test JPEG into a separate Lightroom Classic test catalogue and examine its keywords without overwriting the original catalogue.

For an existing original, catalogue metadata and information written to the file can differ. Adobe documents how to save metadata to files or XMP sidecars. A sidecar is a different output from a newly exported JPEG; do not assume that sending a RAW file’s sidecar updates a separate JPEG delivery.

Once the JPEG has the expected terms, examine the actual agency submission fields. A separate CSV must match the uploaded filenames and the destination’s columns. Recheck the populated fields before submission; this guide does not inspect an agency account or guarantee that it imports every metadata field.

Keep a short record of the result

Record four observations for your test photograph: applied tags, expected exported terms, saved JPEG metadata, and the submission fields. Repeat only the step that is still missing information. Keep the successful settings with the batch before returning to the rest of the library.

If the discrepancy remains, save the exact symptoms, app version, settings and a non-sensitive test file for the relevant support team. A catalogue dictionary export is a list for managing keywords; it is not a completed per-image stock submission sheet.