Hi Ian - I see - that's interesting (code paths) - I assumed LR would just deal with the standard filesystem layer in the OS without much caring about what the actual endpoint device is. However, it is also clear it must be aware it's dealing with removable media (below). I'm used to the generally POSIX filesystem handing of Linux, rather than whatever Darwin+MacOSX does. I'm happy to be gently dissuaded, by I like to understand why (is there a reason other than "everyone does it that way" I've just done some experimentation with LR Classic connected to my Adobe Cloud account and a few images on both a Sandisk stick and a Lexar SDCard I plugged them in, imported the 2-3 test pictures and then ejected the devices. The smart preview remains available, as does a shadow of the 2 devices (above, SDCard-2 and SANDISK-1). Any attempt to edit in PS fails until the relevant device is remounted. Interestingly - as soon as I connected to my Adobe Cloud account, it started syncing down full copies of 5000 photos I have previously uploaded via LR Web. Obviously, I don't want that, so I was pleased to find that the local sync location can be moved. In fact, you can move it to any external device, including the SDCard-2 as above ("Lighroom" folder with a typo) Thank you - I'm starting to understand the mental model a bit more. As I've not done anything with the images on Adobe Cloud, I might trash the catalogue and reimport the originals. It would seem reasonable, as you suggest to get a decent SSD external drive and shove everything on there, then reimport. It's clear that if that drive fills up, then it's a simple matter to add a second drive. The only thing I'll have to think about is the default sync location for stuff that originates from Adobe Cloud - eg stuff I uploaded from my phone direct. If the volumes remain small, that could be the internal SSD. Cheers and thank you, Tim
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