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n20luci
n20luci
Participant
April 2, 2026
Question

LrC wants me to disable the use of Smart Previews instead of just grabbing originals itself when needed

  • April 2, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 50 views

Since LrC 15 I get this popup:
 


Smart previews have been the single thing that kept Lightroom Classic moving decently for me, even when my Macbook was brand new, even when I made super powerful workstations before that. Lightroom Classic has always been slow loading original images, no matter what I did, except for enabling the use of smart previews.

Now the app says I should disable the only thing making usable for someone editing thousands of pics at a time. 

Now I have to go through several steps when I need one of the new models (because working with smart previews does indeed lower the output quality), then go through several steps again to enable the use of smart previews, when the only logical thing to do was probably a single line of code saying “if CurrentPic.source == SmartPreview {CurrentPic.source == Original} when using one of the features needing originals.

Please fix this simple yet horrendous user experience bug asap.

    1 reply

    CMass
    Community Manager
    CMassCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 3, 2026

    Hi ​@n20luci, 

    Thanks so much for reporting this—I can understand how frustrating this situation must be. For now, I’m going to move your post into the Questions section while we gather a bit more detail about your setup so we can better help you.
     

    When you have a moment, could you share your Lightroom Classic version and operating system version? You can find this by going to Help > System Info, then copying everything into a text file and attaching it to your reply.
     

    Also, just to make sure we’re on the same page, could you confirm whether you’re working only in Lightroom Classic and not Lightroom? I noticed both mentioned, and since they’re quite different apps, I want to be certain we’re troubleshooting the right one.

    Best, 
    CM
     

    n20luci
    n20luciAuthor
    Participant
    April 3, 2026

    Hello,
    I attached my system specs.

    I’m only working in Lightroom Classic, for me it’s the only Lightroom so that’s why I forget to mention the complete name :)

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