Attaching External Drive

Question

I have an external hard drive to which I move my archive images, which I'll refer to as Archive here. I back this up to an identical drive, which I'll refer to as Backup here. I have identical folder structures in both drives. The root is the drive name then beneath that there is a folder called Lightroom RAW files. Below that are all the subfolders.

When I attach the Archive drive I can see it as a drive in Lightroom Classic just fine as soon as I plug it in. I can see all the folders and sub-folders. When I attach the Backup drive to my Mac I can see the drive and all the folders subfolders in Finder. Everything in the Backup drive is present and correct.

When I open Lightroom I first have to add the Backup drive by clicking + in the Folders panel. So I navigate to the drive in Finder on my Mac and click on the Lightroom RAW Files folder. The drive and Lightroom RAW files folder appear and the previews start to load. Below the Lightroom RAW Files folder in Lightroom I can see all the subfolders but they are greyed out. Lightroom wants me to Import all the images (see attached screenshot). Meanwhile all I can see are Previews.

Should I click Import? Won't that duplicate all the images? I made that mistake a few years ago and it took me weeks to sort out the mess. I did try importing one image this time and it seemed to be OK. But I'm concerned that if the Archive drive is corrupted or destroyed at the moment I won't be able to fall back on the Backup drive, apparantly until I import all the images.

KR Seals · Accepted Answer

There should be no reason to make Lightroom Classic aware of your backup drive. As you are seeing, that makes for a confusing situation. I would not even connect it when Lightroom Classic is running. Connect it when you intend to backup your recent files from the "Archive" drive to it.

It's an excellent idea to maintain the exact same folder/file structure on the backup as the Archive where the originals are located. In case of failure of the Archive drive, you can switch to the backup drive quickly and easily.

dj_paige · Answer

When I open Lightroom I first have to add the Backup drive by clicking + in the Folders panel. So I navigate to the drive in Finder on my Mac and click on the Lightroom RAW Files folder. The drive and Lightroom RAW files folder appear and the previews start to load. Below the Lightroom RAW Files folder in Lightroom I can see all the subfolders but they are greyed out. Lightroom wants me to Import all the images (see attached screenshot). Meanwhile all I can see are Previews.

Should I click Import? Won't that duplicate all the images? I made that mistake a few years ago and it took me weeks to sort out the mess. I did try importing one image this time and it seemed to be OK. But I'm concerned that if the Archive drive is corrupted or destroyed at the moment I won't be able to fall back on the Backup drive, apparantly until I import all the images.

By @pault78553807

No no no.

Do not click on +. Do not Import. Please adopt the idea that re-importing photos is never a good thing to do.

To use the Backup Drive, you can follow the instructions here. Essentially, right-click on the parent folder of your photos on the Archive drive in the LrC Folder panel, then Find Missing Folders and then select the parent folder on the Backup drive.

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