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Eric_Berlin6867
Participant
February 27, 2025
Question

Lightroom Classic - Hanging Up while importing and synchronizing folders

  • February 27, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 439 views

Hey all, 

 

I recently moved all of my files onto an external hard drive and have been trying to create a new library with them in Lightroom. This is an import where the already exist situation. It doesnt matter what I do, the import process hangs up. I see a few images show up in the imporrt screen and the progress meter stops. I cancel the process and start again, and get the same issue, just a few images at a time. 

 

In some instances, when I hit cancel, an error message shows up that indicates a file which is too big or corrupted, but most often not. I can select a single date folder with just a few images and it will not import them all. I have to stop and restart several times before getting all 20 or so images to sync. This is untennable. 

 

Anyone have any ideas? I want to simply set it and forget it to let the machine do its thing. I can do this file by file... 

 

I am using macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, Lightroom Classic 14.2 on a 2019 iMac 27inch with 3GHz 6-core Intel i5 and 64gb ram. Internal drives are SSD. The external drive is a WD 14TB Elements Drive. 

 

Eric 

2 replies

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
February 27, 2025

I recently moved all of my files onto an external hard drive and have been trying to create a new library with them in Lightroom. 

 

There's no need to create a new catalog ("library"), and no need to do any importing, no need to synchronize folders, so stop right there! Follow these instructions to move the photos to a new hard drive while keeping them in your Lightroom Classic catalog. https://www.lightroomqueen.com/move-photos-another-hard-drive-leaving-catalog/

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Community Manager
AlekeCommunity Manager
Community Manager
February 27, 2025

Hi @Eric_Berlin6867! 👋 Welcome to the community!

When you moved your files to the external hard drive, did you do it from within Lightroom or through Finder? One thing you can try is resetting Lightroom preferences. Just press and hold the Shift + Option keys while launching Lightroom and see if that helps.

Another thing to try, is to ensure Lightroom Classic has Full Disk Access to your Mac, if it doesn't it could cause some unexpected issues. Try the steps in this link: https://adobe.ly/3QDqeby

Thanks a lot!

Best, Alek

*(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
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Eric_Berlin6867Author
Participant
February 28, 2025

Thanks for your response! I transferred through finder as I was merging the collections on my iMac and MacBook Pro. I often edit photos on the go, but want them to reside permanently with my desktop. I have ensured it has full disc access now, but it still hangs up after only a few files. It is a fresh install of Lightroom with no changes to the preferences. 

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