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Participant
July 11, 2026
Open for Voting

Allow Virtual Copies to be moved to different folders

  • July 11, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 4 views

Lightroom Classic should allow a virtual copy to be assigned to a different folder from the original photo.


For example, one group photograph may belong in several separate folders. It should be possible to create virtual copies and place each virtual copy into the relevant folder, while all copies continue to reference the same original file.

At present, virtual copies remain tied to the original photo’s folder, which makes this kind of organisation unnecessarily difficult. Collections are not a substitute when the workflow specifically requires folder-based organisation.
This would allow one photo to appear in multiple folders without duplicating the original file.

    1 reply

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    July 11, 2026

    A better way to do this is to organize using collections and smart collections, and consider folders as physical storage place only. That is also how Lightroom Classic was designed. The major advantage of using collections over folders is that an image can be in multiple collections, while it can only be in one folder. And virtual copies can be in different collections than their original. So think about collections as virtual folders and your feature request is fulfilled.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga