A file geodatabase appears as a folder in ArcGIS Pro

Description

In ArcGIS Pro, contents of a file geodatabase in the Catalog pane cannot be accessed and it appears as a folder instead of a file geodatabase.

Additionally, the file geodatabase cannot be used as an output geodatabase save location when running geoprocessing tools, and the following error message is returned when attempting to specify the file geodatabase as an output location:

Error:
Error 000837 The workspace is not the correct workspace type.

Cause

The file geodatabase may be corrupt due to the following reasons:

• The gdb file or the timestamps file or both files are missing from the file geodatabase.
• The file geodatabase does not have the .gdb extension at the end of the file name.

Note:
File geodatabases can have missing files when compressed, extracted or transferred incorrectly.

Solution or Workaround

Depending on the cause, use one of the following solutions.

If the gdb and timestamps files are not present in the corrupted file geodatabase, add them to the file geodatabase

There are two ways the gdb and timestamps files can be added to a file geodatabase if they are missing. Use either one of the following methods.

• Copy and paste the gdb file and the timestamps file from an existing file geodatabase to the corrupt file geodatabase.

1. Navigate to the existing file geodatabase folder path in Windows Explorer.
2. Select the gdb file, or the timestamps file, or both files if necessary.
3. Right-click the files and click Copy.
4. Navigate to the corrupted file geodatabase and paste the copied files there.

• Create a new gdb and timestamps file with a text editor software.

1. Open a text editor, for example Notepad. Keep the text file blank.
2. Click File > Save As....
3. For File name, type gdb. Click Save.
4. Repeat Steps 1 to 3 to create a timestamps file. In Step 3, for File name, type timestamps.

Add the .gdb file extension to the corrupt file geodatabase

1. Navigate to the corrupt file geodatabase folder path in Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the file geodatabase and click Rename.
3. Add the .gdb extension to the file geodatabase name.

Run the Recover File Geodatabase tool

1. In ArcGIS Pro, on the Analysis tab, click Tools to open the Geoprocessing pane.
2. Search for and open the Recover File Geodatabase tool.
3. For Input File Geodatabase, specify the corrupt file geodatabase.
4. For Output Location, specify a save folder for the recovered file geodatabase.
5. For File Geodatabase Name, specify a name for the output recovered file geodatabase.
6. Click Run. A new file geodatabase with the .gdb extension is created containing recovered files such as feature classes, the gdb and timestamps files.