Duplicate files in mysterious folder

Question

I import files into Lightroom from an external hard drive. Most of the time, the files appear in Lightroom as part of the folder that is on the external drive. Today, some of those files were duplicated in a new dated folder on my laptop. For those files, Lightroom links only to the new folder. How do I get Lightroom to find the files in their original folder so all the files from the same folder appear together in Lightroom?

Rob_Cullen · Answer

And your Version Number of "Lightroom" is?

Sounds like you have Lightroom-Classic (or an old perpetual version!). With Lightroom (Cloud versions) catalog & files are in the Adobe Cloud.

Your catalog symptoms suggest you Imported the image files to the catalog with the [COPY] option and should have instead used the [ADD] option.

To Re-link the Catalog to the original folder on the external drive you would-

1) [Right-Click] on the Folder as it appears in the Folder panel (in the laptop)

2) Choose [Update Folder Location]

3) In the Explorer/Finder window -navigate to the same Folder on the External Drive.

4) [Choose]

The method is similar to that given in "Option 2" at this link- If you think of your problem as if you "Moved" the folder to the External Drive and need to re-link it in the external location.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/move-photos-another-hard-drive-leaving-catalog/

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