Trying to understand how PSE 14's Organizer works

Hi, pvsurfer, welcome to PSE&M!  Glad to have you here.

Let's see if this will help clarify what the Organizer is all about.

Despite the fact that we describe the process as "importing photos into Elements", your photos are not actually being brought inside Elements. They are still on your computer. Think of this analogy! The Organizer is like a library computerized card catalog. A library’s catalog is just an index or a database; the actual books are kept on the shelves. It is also used to keep track of what happens to the books (new editions, title changes, lost/stolen copies, etc., etc.). The Organizer behaves in a very similar way; it indexes your photos and keeps track of everything you do to them. That’s why you should not delete, rename, or move photos outside the Organizer. This should all be done from within the Organizer. Why? Imagine this scenario! Someone sneaks a book out of a library without going through the proper channels, i.e., without checking it out. This means that the library’s catalog won't reflect what happened and will continue displaying a record for this book. A similar situation will arise in the Organizer. You delete or move a photo from your computer outside the Organizer and the Organizer won’t know about it; it will be looking for it and warning you that there is a missing file in your database.

You may also want to check this thread for further information on the Organizer. Organizer -- Resources