I wrote a section in the eBook “10 Tips on File Management in Aperture” about reconnecting missing files, and in there I discussed techniques to force stubborn reconnects. I just discovered something new… sometimes if the “reconnect” button isn’t available, and you know it’s the right file, all you need to do is wait. I had a batch of files that had gone “missing” because I’d renamed them in the Finder and Aperture hadn’t followed along, and I realized that in the Manage Referenced File dialog, if I selected the right file and just waited about 20 seconds, then the Reconnect button would finally become available. Apparently Aperture was just working hard at comparing the two files. Nice!

Of course “Reconnect All” never worked because each file had been renamed and each file needed to be manually selected and reconnected. But at least it worked!