See screenshot. I am getting the “?” image when viewing some search results but there is nothing in the folder when viewed in the PL Library or Finder. What is really strange is that DSCF0092 has a ? and an image. Any ideas folks?
As far as I can see in my own PhotoLab database, PhotoLab does not clean up the database if items have been removed outside of PhotoLab. PhotoLab search looks for matches in the PhotoLab database rather than in folder hierarchies. Re-Indexing does not help either, which means that the database accumulates things that are long gone…
To remedy such differences, a few feature requests have been made already…
What I did is rename a folder outside of PL, and probably deleted some images. PL is as you say now looking at old stuff that is no longer there. I could not rename the folder via PL5 as it does not have that functionality, not on Mac. Is there a way around this - even if drastic as the file structure is not huge and I could easily start again? I thought of creating an entirely new directory tree and then move the images and sidecars in to it.
Or is there a way to delete the database
There is always a way to delete the database. Just go to the relevant folder in Finder on Mac or Explorer on Windows and delete the three files: DOPDatabaseV5.dopdata, DOPDatabaseV5.dopdata-shm and DOPDatabaseV5.dopdata-wal.
On Windows, I believe the right folder is - %UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\DxO\DxO PhotoLab 1\Database and on Mac it is ~/Library/DxO PhotoLab v5.
If you are not running PL5, just substitute your version number for the 5.
Thanks Joanna (as always). Should have remembered that from when running the beta. It has done the trick.
You can only delete these files if you close PL first!
Hard to delete what is not there, Keith. They do not show in Finder.
If the number of missing files is not too high, you could duplicate files, rename them to match the missing files and then delete these files in PhotoLab. This might remove the database entries (hopefully, have not tested it yet)…
So when the finder doesn’ show them anymore, they don’t exist, right? Can’t you delete those remains within PL to ‘correct’ the database – just asking.
@platypus, It is not that straight forward as it its actually reporting files that are missing from a now defunct folder or at least a folder I renamed. They really are ghost images. I am searching in folder B (previously named A) and it is still finding, or trying to, images that were in folder A.
Anyway have deleted the database files and all is now ok. Thanks for then help and have voted accordingly for some improvement in db management.
Nope it says it cannot delete and to try in Finder. These are definitely ghost images.
I am referring to deleting the database files. If you cannot find your database files then go to preferences and see where your database is located. You can create your database anywhere.
Ah right. I have already deleted the database files as mentioned in my earlier reply to Joanna.
To be strictly accurate, you can delete them whilst PL is open - whether that will work or not is definitely up to chance, since PL will reconstitute them as soon as you make the slightest alteration to anything 
On windows you cannot delete the database files while PL is running because PL had an open lock on the files which needs to be released before the files can be deleted.
Ah! Furry nuff. No such limit on Mac 