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Participating Frequently
June 27, 2011

P: Export command limits choice of export destinations

  • June 27, 2011
  • 16 replies
  • 457 views

In Lightroom, the Export command won't let me choose an export directory, even when I choose "Specific Folder" in the "Export To:" field. My choices is limited to my desktop. I cannot even choose an other hard drive.

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16 replies

Legend
March 24, 2017
This issue is fixed in Lightroom 4 and later.
Inspiring
May 19, 2012
I know this thread is 11 months old, but I'm very glad I found it! I had this same issue with 'export location' in LR3. It did not show all the folders I wanted to export images to.

I just typed the path to the folder I needed (as stated above) and not only did it find that folder, it found the entire C: drive and all the folders that I needed.

So thanks for the this great forum! Marvinh
Legend
June 27, 2011
Definitely looks like the same issue at the root as:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...

Workaround is to simply type the full path of the folder you are exporting to in the text entry box at the bottom of the file browser dialog or clean up the desktop so there aren't so many files on it.

Knowledge Based document on this issue:

Locations for import, export, and backup are limited | Lightroom 3 | Windows
Participating Frequently
June 27, 2011
Victoria, this actually works. Cleaning up my desktop and stuffing everything into two folders on my desktop has opened up the normal situation again. I now get "Computer" as an option again when I click "Choose" in the Export Location part of the Export dialog. Hope this helps.
Participating Frequently
June 27, 2011
Jim, I have tried an earlier suggestion, which is to de-clutter my desktop, and that _does_ seem to give a permanent solution. I have shut down and restarted Windows and I can still reach my other drives now in LR3. So that one seems to be permanent. I will re-clutter my desktop and see if your solution also registers properly.
Inspiring
June 27, 2011
Apparently so...something else to learn and include in advice to anyone else hitting the same problem.

Now that you have done a successful export, it would also be interesting to know if you have to use the same workaround for future exports, or have your external drives now been properly 'registered' and appear in the browser window as normal?
Participating Frequently
June 27, 2011
Jim, this actually does work. When I enter an existing folder, my choice is actually registered and the files get exported to that folder without problems. I guess the point was that previously, I did try to create a new folder and export into it in one go. Which appears too much for LS3 (or Windows 7?) to handle.
Victoria Bampton LR Queen
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2011
> Although I still think that no computer program should have that much power over me

It's a feature! 😉 But it would be interesting to know if clearing up the desktop does the trick, as it'll give the engineers a specific place to look for the solution.
Victoria - The Lightroom Queen
Inspiring
June 27, 2011
I'm guessing that you typed in a path to a new folder (i.e. intending to create it during the export). If that's the case, you could either create the empty sub-folder first using Explorer, as then that folder should appear when you start typing the path in the file browser box....when you see the folder, click on it and you should then be able to click OK and everything should work.

Alternatively, select the parent folder that you are trying to export into, click OK, then when you are returned to the main Export window use the 'Into Subfolder' option to create the new sub-folder.
Participating Frequently
June 27, 2011
Jim, It's interesting that you bring this solution up. When I try it, I get this:


Image is not available



I can then continue to write out the full path to the folder that I want to use. While doing so, LR will keep offering me all sorts of directories and files that can be reached from the directory I am at at the moment of typing, as in the image above. However, when I am done and then hit return to finalize my choice, I get this again:


Image is not available



So it looks like your solution works, but then when it come s to actually pointing LR3 toi the right directory, it turns out that my choice of directory is not accepted.