Troubleshooting

Fixes for the problems people run into most.

The license won’t activate

• “This licence is registered to a different email address.” Use the email address the license was sent to, as it appears in the purchase email.
• “Licence signature does not check out” or “licence is malformed”: part of the key is missing. Copy the whole key from the email again (it’s long, and it’s easy to miss the end) and paste it.

Still stuck? Write to the address at the bottom of this page with your order number.

A photo shows “No preview”

The file has no preview image inside it that ExifXplorer can show. That’s the case for some GoPro GPR and Hasselblad 3FR files. The metadata is still all there. If it happens to ordinary photos on an external or network drive, check the drive is connected, then choose Rescan this folder.

New photos don’t appear

ExifXplorer doesn’t watch folders while it’s open. After copying photos into a folder you’ve already added, choose Rescan this folder on it, or Rescan Library for everything.

Photos I deleted in Finder are still in the library

The same: Rescan Library removes photos whose files are gone. Folders on a drive that isn’t connected are skipped, so their photos aren’t mistaken for deleted ones.

The lens shows as ”—”

Some cameras record the lens only as a code, and ExifXplorer couldn’t name it. Checkup lists these under Missing lens. You can type the lens name in the photo’s panel, or set it for many photos with Batch edit fields.

There’s no focus point

See the note in Maker notes and the focus point: the camera may not have recorded a single point, or the brand doesn’t record one.

Space in Finder shows the normal macOS preview

Check Use ExifXplorer for Quick Look on RAW files is on in Settings ▸ Finder. The preview only covers RAW files, and only after ExifXplorer has been opened at least once from your Applications folder. If you’ve just updated, open ExifXplorer once, then try again.

A photo can’t be moved to the Trash

Its drive has no Trash, which is common for network drives. ExifXplorer leaves the photo where it is rather than deleting it. Delete it in Finder if you’re sure.

Edits don’t show up in another app

Edits are written when you save: look for Save all at the bottom of the window. If you save to XMP sidecar files, the other app needs to read sidecars (Lightroom and Bridge do; not every app does). To put edits inside the photos themselves, switch Settings ▸ Metadata to Write directly into the original file.