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Karl Photographer
Inspiring
August 6, 2026
Question

How do I get LR Classic to complete import? - Stuck on 'building smart previews'

  • August 6, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 65 views

I have been away from my computer for over 6 months, and when I returned, after my 1st shoot, I tried to import a small amount of photos (only 207), and convert to DNG. But while the files seem to be on my catalog now, the progress bar is stuck on the ‘building smart previews’ function. I left it running last night and just ejected my CF card, because I needed it for a shoot today. 

Today (24+hrs later) I’m doing a 2nd import, and the smart previews from yesterday still aren’t built, and now I have to do another import of today’s shoot, so there’s 3 progress bars running, with no end in sight for yesterday’s import.

How do I get the imports to complete fully, and stop getting stalled or bogged down at the build smart previews stage?

    3 replies

    Claire H.
    Community Manager
    Claire H.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    August 6, 2026

    Hi ​@Karl Photographer, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the Lightroom Classic Community Forum! Let's try a few things and see if we can get the smart previews working again.

    1. Check Disk Space: Please make sure that there is enough disk space available on the local drive where Lightroom is trying to save the imported files. Lightroom requires significant space for the initial copy and for creating smart previews.

    2. Change Storage Location:

      • From the error message (if applicable), note down the amount of space required.

      • In Lightroom, navigate to Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Lightroom > Preferences (Mac).

      • Select the Local Storage panel.

      • Click Change Location to select a drive with adequate free space as indicated by the error message.

    3. Restart Lightroom: Close and reopen Lightroom to refresh the application and clear any temporary glitches.

    4. Reset Lightroom Classic Preferences: Please refer to this Helpx article for steps.  https://adobe.ly/3HsQXpA It is recommended to back up your catalog before resetting preferences. You may refer to this article for more information:  https://adobe.ly/4dW8vqF.

    Let's go ahead and start there and see if it fixes the issue. If not, we can continue troubleshooting. I hope this helps! ^CH

    Karl PhotographerAuthor
    Inspiring
    August 6, 2026

    Hi Claire, thanks for your reply; however, I made a mistake when I originally posted my question. I meant to say ‘standard previews’ but because of lack of sleep, I mistakenly posted ‘smart previews’. I don’t know if that will affect your advice at all. And I can’t figure out how to edit the original heading; and I believe once someone replies to my post (as you have done), I can no longer edit the question body under the heading.

    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 8, 2026

    Hi @Karl Photographer,

    Thanks for clarifying. Yes, Standard Previews changes the troubleshooting somewhat, so let’s focus specifically on the preview-generation process.

    Since the photos appear to have completed importing, you can first cancel the currently stuck Building Standard Previews operation by clicking the X next to that progress task. Canceling preview generation will not remove photos that have already been successfully imported into the catalog.

    Restart Lightroom Classic, select a small group of approximately 10–20 photos from yesterday’s import, and choose: Library > Previews > Build Standard-Sized Previews. Please check whether that small batch completes normally or also becomes stuck.

    I’d also like you to try one small import without Copy as DNG. Import using Copy, allow the Standard Previews to finish, and see whether that behaves differently. If it does, we can then determine whether the problem is occurring specifically when DNG conversion and preview generation are part of the same import workflow. You can always convert the test images afterward using Library > Convert Photos to DNG.

    A couple of other things to check:

    • Go to Catalog Settings > File Handling and let us know your Standard Preview Size and Preview Quality.

    • Let us know where your catalog and Previews.lrdata are stored (internal SSD, external/network storage, etc.).

    • Let us know where the imported originals are being stored and how much free space remains on the drive containing your catalog.

    • Please provide Help > System Info > Copy and paste the information here.

    Looking forward to your response.

    Best,
    Anshul Saini

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