Lightroom Classic Export Not Working or Stuck

Symptoms

Export stays at 'pending' or 'Preparing for Export' forever, 'Some export operations were not performed. An unknown error occurred', some photos are skipped, or 'Watermarking failed'.

Why it happens

• Bug in Classic 15.3.1 where exports never start on some Macs (fixed for users by rolling back to 15.2.1)
• Content Credentials enabled in the Export dialog (known issue in 15.5 that skips exports)
• GPU used for export
• Missing file/folder permissions on macOS
• Super Resolution or Upright on a specific photo
• Export set to 'Skip' existing files
• Corrupt original or broken export preset/watermark

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Find out if one photo is the problem

   1. Export a single photo, then a small batch
   2. If one file fails, check it for a missing-file exclamation mark or 'problems reading this photo' (possible corruption)
   3. Try removing Upright, Super Resolution or AI edits from that photo

2. 2. Turn off Content Credentials and GPU export

   1. In the Export dialog, set Content Credentials to off
   2. Open Preferences > Performance > Custom and uncheck Use GPU for export (or set Use Graphics Processor to Off)
   3. Restart and export again

3. 3. Check the export location settings

   1. In Export Location, set Existing Files to 'Choose a new name' instead of 'Skip'
   2. Export to a local folder such as Desktop to rule out network drives

4. 4. Grant macOS permissions

   1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
   2. Add Lightroom Classic (and Photoshop if you round-trip)
   3. Make sure you have write access to the export folder

5. 5. Recreate export presets and watermarks

   1. Delete the export preset or watermark that fails
   2. Create it again from scratch

6. 6. Roll back a broken release

   1. In the Creative Cloud app, click ... next to Lightroom Classic > Other versions
   2. Install the previous version (users fixed the 15.3.1 export hang with 15.2.1)
   3. Back up your catalog first

This guide also covers

• lightroom export failed
• lightroom classic export not working
• lightroom export stuck
• some export operations were not performed lightroom
• lightroom export pending

Other Adobe Lightroom errors

• Lightroom Classic Not Syncing (Photos Stuck Syncing)
• Lightroom Mobile Not Syncing With Desktop (Classic)
• Lightroom Classic Running Slow
• Lightroom Presets Not Showing After Import
• Lightroom Catalog Corrupted
• Lightroom AI Denoise Very Slow
• Lightroom Generative Remove Not Working
• Lightroom Photos Missing (Question Mark or Exclamation Mark)
• Lightroom Mobile Taking Up Too Much Storage
• Lightroom Catalog Size Huge After Denoise (lrcat-data)
• Lightroom Classic Not Working After Update