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lba294
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April 11, 2026
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P: Allow "preview" size for offline (local) downloads (for desktop app)

  • April 11, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 24 views

On the desktop version, when we select to store an album locally (for offline access), it always downloads the full resolution images. My understanding is that the same feature on mobile only downloads the “smart preview” versions of the photos. 

I would like to have an option, either in the settings or when downloading an album, to select if I want the full-size files or the smart previews. 

There are two options I’m asking for this: 

  1. I mostly use this when travelling. Having all the full resolution photos takes unnecessary spaces.
  2. When I travel with a less powerful devices, having full resolution photos slows down Lightroom a lot and uses an unnecessary amount of resources to process the images.

      1 reply

      Jim Wilde
      Community Expert
      Jim WildeCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 11, 2026

      Look at the Apps Settings menu for Lightroom Mobile, Cloud Storage & Sync tab…..under Image Quality you have an option to “Only download reduced-resolution”. If you enable that LrM will only keep Smart Previews on the local device unless/until the original is needed for any specific action (such as exporting at full resolution). At any time you can individually ask for the original to be downloaded (select the image, tap on the cloud icon at the top and select “Get Original”).

      Also at any time you can also use the “Clear Cache” option which will remove any originals that have already synced to the cloud and replace them with smart previews. It will not remove any originals which have not yet synced to the cloud.

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