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Participating Frequently
Jan 18, 2026 1:43 PM UTC
Open for Voting

P: Preserve folder and album structure with Lightroom Downloader

Hi,

I want to back up all my Lightroom CC photos to a local drive before my school Adobe account is deleted. Unfortunately, there is no way to transfer the full library to another Adobe account, so a local backup is my only option.

 

The problem is that Lightroom CC does not preserve my original folder and album structure when exporting. All my photos from 2020–2026 are now exported into folders based only on capture date, which makes them extremely difficult and time-consuming to reorganize.

 

If I had known beforehand that Lightroom CC does not allow exporting with the original folder/album structure, I would have never started using it and would have chosen Lightroom Classic instead.

 

I assume that Lightroom must internally store metadata about albums and organization, so it is frustrating that this information cannot be used during export. This feels like a basic, missing feature.

 

Is there any way to preserve the existing organization when exporting from Lightroom CC, or any official workaround for this? 

1 reply

Jim Wilde
Community Expert
Community Expert
Jan 18, 2026 2:39 PM UTC

There's no way currently to save your folder/album structure using the Downloader. For alternative options, see the links in this post: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/transfer-photos-from-old-adobe-user-to-new/m-p/15665458#M112299

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