Note: This article is about problems with Narrative itself, not Publish. If your Personal AI Preset is stuck analyzing or uploading, don't clear the cache or database. Follow Why is my AI Preset stuck analyzing or uploading? instead.
If Narrative is slow or has stopped responding, work through these steps in order.
1. Update Narrative
Install any available update, then reopen Narrative. Updates often include performance fixes. Learn how Narrative updates.
2. Give a new project time to process
After you import a shoot, Narrative works out Scenes and AI assessments for every photo. It can feel slower until that's finished, especially on big shoots. Large shoots can take a while, and the percentage complete on the project tab shows how far along it is.
If Narrative is still responding, let it keep going before deciding it's stuck.
3. Check where your photos are stored
Make sure the drive is connected and your photos are actually on it, not just stored in the cloud.
Plug your external drive straight into your computer, not through a hub, dock or display adapter. These can make the drive much slower, so photos take a long time to load.
Working from a memory card or an older external hard drive can slow Narrative down. Try copying a few photos to your computer or an SSD and testing with those. Don't delete the originals.
Check your photos are in a supported format, and the drive has free space.
4. Free up memory
Narrative needs a good amount of memory to run smoothly. Close any apps you're not using, especially Lightroom, Photoshop and browsers with lots of tabs open.
To see what's using memory, open Activity Monitor on Mac or Task Manager on Windows.
5. Restart Narrative
If Narrative is responding, go to Help → Troubleshooting → Restart App.
If it's frozen:
On Mac: quit Narrative. If it won't quit, use Force Quit.
On Windows: close Narrative. If it won't close, end it in Task Manager.
Still slow after reopening? Restart your computer too.
6. Clear the cache
If Narrative is still slow, clearing the cache fixes a lot of problems. Read what it does first.
Before you clear the cache:
You'll be signed out, so have your password handy.
Your preferences go back to their defaults. Note any settings you want to keep.
Your downloaded AI Presets are removed. They download again next time you open Narrative with an internet connection.
Personal AI Preset corrections that haven't uploaded yet can be lost. If you've just made corrections, give them time to upload first.
The previews Narrative has saved for your photos are removed. Narrative makes them again from your original photos, so they can load slowly for a while. Photos on a drive that isn't connected show as gray boxes until you connect it again.
Your photos, XMP files, projects, ratings and AI assessments aren't affected.
To clear the cache:
Go to Help → Troubleshooting → Delete App Cache.
Click Clear Cache to confirm.
Sign in again, then set your preferences again.
7. Clear the database
If clearing the cache didn't help, try clearing the database. Read what it does first.
Before you clear the database:
All your projects are removed from Narrative. You'll need to import the shoots you're working on again.
Names you've given people in People Filter are lost.
Narrative works out Scenes and AI assessments again when you reimport, which can take a while on big shoots.
Your photos and XMP files aren't deleted, and your ratings, color labels, tags and crops come back when you import your shoots again.
To clear the database:
Go to Help → Troubleshooting → Clear Database.
Click Clear database to confirm.
Import the shoots you're working on again.
8. Send us your logs
If Narrative is still slow, go to Help → Troubleshooting → Send Logs to Support. Then let our support team know.
Let us know what you were doing when it happened, whether it's one project or all of them, and which of the steps above you've tried.
Can't open Narrative to send your logs? Just tell us, and we'll help with the next step.
Seeing ERR105?
Follow I’m receiving ERR105, what should I do? for the symptom-specific checks.