{"id":54263,"date":"2022-06-01T17:43:52","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T17:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/faq\/popular-question-how-to-move-lightroom-catalog-to-external-drive\/"},"modified":"2022-06-01T17:43:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T17:43:52","slug":"popular-question-how-to-move-lightroom-catalog-to-external-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/faq\/popular-question-how-to-move-lightroom-catalog-to-external-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular question: How to move lightroom catalog to external drive?"},"content":{"rendered":"<ol>\n<li>Step 1: Backup Your <strong>Lightroom<\/strong> Catalogue and Images.  <\/li>\n<li>Locate your catalog and images.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 3: Plug in your external drive.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 4: Copy\/<strong>Move<\/strong> Your <strong>Catalog<\/strong> and Images.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 5: Copy your images (Optional)  <\/li>\n<li>Step 6: Open the new catalog in Lightroom.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<p>Quick Answer, can I put my <strong>Lightroom<\/strong> catalog on an <strong>external<\/strong> hard <strong>drive<\/strong>? Yes, you can store and use a Lightroom <strong>catalog<\/strong> on most external drives. However, you can only store, but not open, a catalog while it is on a network storage drive or NAS. Adobe does not allow this due to the fact that multiple computers could be accessing the same catalog at once.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, can I <strong>move<\/strong> my Lightroom <strong>catalog<\/strong>? With access to your Lightroom Catalog file (. LRCAT), it&#8217;s time to move or copy it to a new location. To move the <strong>catalog<\/strong>, click and drag all related files to a new location, such as an <strong>external<\/strong> hard <strong>drive<\/strong>. To copy the <strong>catalog<\/strong>, highlight all related files, right-click, and press &#8216;copy&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Beside above, how do I import from <strong>Lightroom<\/strong> to an external hard drive? <iframe style=\"margin-top:25px;width:100%;height:420px;\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qLSzncSkvB4\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, how do I <strong>move<\/strong> my Lightroom catalog folder? Ok, here&#8217;s how to make the move simply and safely: Step One: Go to Lightroom > Catalog Settings > General (under Edit menu on Windows). Step Two: Click the Show button on the General tab of the Catalog Settings to open the folder containing your catalog in your file browser. Step Three: Quit <strong>Lightroom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Step 1: Backup Your Lightroom Catalogue and Images.  <\/li>\n<li>Locate your catalog and images.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 3: Plug in your external drive.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 4: Copy\/Move Your Catalog and Images.  <\/li>\n<li>Step 5: Copy your images (Optional)  <\/li>\n<li>Step 6: Open the new <strong>catalog<\/strong> in Lightroom.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>How do I change my Lightroom storage location?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Choose Edit > Preferences (Win) or Lightroom > Preferences (macOS). In the preferences dialog, choose Local Storage from the menu at the left. In Local Storage preferences, click Browse next to the Storage Location For Originals preference and then choose your network drive&#8217;s path.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I move my Lightroom catalog to SSD?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Find where your catalog is located (Lightroom can show you)<\/li>\n<li>Make sure Lightroom is closed.<\/li>\n<li>Copy the folder where your catalog is located to the SSD drive.<\/li>\n<li>Validate the copied catalog opens.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure the new location will be used going forward.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I backup my Lightroom catalog?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Step 1: Within Lightroom, locate your Catalog Settings menu. Step 2: From this menu, find the Backup-Catalog option in the General Catalog Settings menu. Step 3: Choose \u201cWhen Lightroom Next Exits\u201d as the frequency. Step 4: Exit Lightroom and wait for the Backup pop up.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>What happens if you delete Lightroom catalog?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Deleting a catalog erases all the work you&#8217;ve done in Lightroom Classic that isn&#8217;t saved in the photo files. While the previews are deleted, the original photos being linked to are not deleted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I move photos from Lightroom Classic to external hard drive?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>In the Library module, click the Import&#8230; button to open the Import window. Note: If you&#8217;ve inserted a camera memory card into your computer, the Import window may open automatically. You can import from your computer, an external hard drive, or a camera into your Lightroom Classic catalog.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I get Lightroom to recognize my external hard drive?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Lightroom is a catalog app, not a browser. It will not show any drives that do not contain any photos that are imported. So in order to let Lightroom &#8216;recognise&#8217; a drive, you simply need to import at least one photo from that drive.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I organize my photos on an external hard drive?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;height:420px;\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/juo3Kxn3lVA\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How much space does a Lightroom catalog take up?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>On my Mac Lightroom 6 is a 1.6GB file, so that&#8217;s a lot of hard drive space to give to a program that you may no longer use. If you&#8217;ve installed Lightroom Classic and you&#8217;re happy with it then I see no reason to keep Lightroom 6 on you computer. Uninstall it to free up space. To do so, go to the Creative Cloud app.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Can I run Lightroom from an external SSD?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Lightroom Guru Running Lightroom with its catalog on an external SSD is fine, and 500 GB should give you enough room for now. But 1 TB means you&#8217;ll never have to worry about the size of the catalog folder. A bus powered SSD should be fine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Can I transfer Lightroom from one computer to another?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>You must copy the entire Lightroom Settings folder to a new computer and place them in a new catalog folder or a new Lightroom installation directory.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Where should I store my Lightroom catalog?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>For the best performance, store your Lightroom catalog on your local hard drive. A Solid State Hard Drive (SSD) is even better.<\/li>\n<li>If you need to be portable, store your Lightroom catalog and photos on a fast external hard drive.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I change my hard drive in Lightroom?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Connect your external drive to your computer.  <\/li>\n<li>In the Folders panel, click and drag the folders from the existing location to the new external drive location (the new folder you created above).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Where does Lightroom store imported photos?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Where are my Lightroom photos stored? Lightroom is a catalog program, which means that it doesn&#8217;t actually store your images \u2013 instead, it simply records where your images are stored on your computer, then stores your edits in the corresponding catalog.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Should Lightroom catalog be on SSD or HDD?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Photo files should go on regular spinning hard disks and not on SSD. Catalog should go on SSD.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I share a Lightroom catalog?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;height:420px;\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hMOEXXcQR3c\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Does Time Machine backup Lightroom catalog?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The first step is to restore the Lightroom catalog (. lrlibrary) file, from Time Machine (on a Mac) or another backup. By default it&#8217;s located in the Pictures folder in your home folder. As a precaution, copy the current (goofed) file to an external drive or elsewhere, just in case, and then restore the backup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Do I need to keep old Lightroom backups?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>However, you only need a few catalog backups to have peace of mind, and if you haven&#8217;t configured Lightroom settings effectively, you might end up with a hundred of them. So, to answer the question, you don&#8217;t need to keep all your Lightroom Catalog backups; only the most recent 2-3 should be good enough.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I clean up my Lightroom library?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The keyboard combination to Delete Rejected Photos on a Mac is Command + Delete, and on a PC is Control + Backspace. Click whichever is pertinent. Lightroom will ask you to confirm (Figure 2). Click Delete from Disc to permanently delete the images from your computer as well to remove them from your Lightroom Catalog.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Can I delete my Lightroom catalog and start over?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>When you are done with the catalog deletion, start Lightroom once again. As the previous catalog is no longer available, it will ask you to start with a new catalog. A fresh new catalog will be opened.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Will deleting photos from Lightroom delete them from my phone?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>1 Correct answer. Yes deleting from the mobile app will delete them everywhere in the CC ecosystem, so also from lightroom.adobe.com and on any desktop installations of Lightroom CC. It will not delete them from the camera roll when you delete from the mobile app as again those are separate entities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>What is the difference between folders and collections in Lightroom?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The original image stays in the folder where it was placed when imported. Adding it to a Collection gives you the ability to see the preview and reference the photo from that original folder location. A single photo can be added to as many Collections as you want, and there will still only be one original image file.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>What is the difference between Lightroom and Lightroom Classic?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>What are the differences between Lightroom and Lightroom Classic? Lightroom is the new cloud-based photo service that works across desktop, mobile, and web. Lightroom Classic is the desktop-focused digital photography product.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I export photos from Lightroom?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Select photos from the Grid view to export.  <\/li>\n<li>Choose File > Export, or click the Export button in the Library module.  <\/li>\n<li>(Optional) Choose an export preset.  <\/li>\n<li>Specify a destination folder, naming conventions, and other options in the various Export dialog box panels.  <\/li>\n<li>(Optional) Save your export settings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<h2>How do I free up space in Lightroom cloud?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Sign in to Lightroom on the web.<\/li>\n<li>Select Deleted in the left sidebar.  <\/li>\n<li>Select the files you want to delete permanently from the cloud, and then select .  <\/li>\n<li>In the confirmation pop-up window, select Delete to delete your files permanently from the cloud.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Can you run Photoshop on external hard drive?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>You can put photoshop on your external hard drive. You just have to change the location when the installer wizard will be downloaded. It&#8217;s also possible to install the program on your system. External hard drives can perform the same functions as the drive installed in your computer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step 1: Backup Your Lightroom Catalogue and Images. Locate your catalog and images. Step 3: Plug in your external drive. Step 4: Copy\/Move Your Catalog and Images. Step 5: Copy your images (Optional) Step 6: Open the new catalog in Lightroom. Quick Answer, can I put my Lightroom catalog on an external hard drive? Yes, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepicpedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}