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kba
kba
Participant
February 5, 2017
Answered

Lightroom move to a new laptop

  • February 5, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 1170 views

I recently bought a new laptop and need to move lightroom from my old laptop with a broken  screen to  my new laptop . Can  someone please tell me how to go about doing this? I have not found  any information online. Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Rob_Cullen

    A summary-  but read the link below before attempting the 'move'.

    You need three essential things on the new laptop-

    1. Your original image files.

    2. Your Catalog file  (xxxxxx.LRCAT) from the 'old' laptop.

    3. Lightroom installed.  (If a CC subscriber- first install the Creative Cloud Desktop App, and install Lr from the App tab.)

    Re: 1. Can you copy your images from the old laptop to the new laptop? Or copy them to an external drive? It is essential that the 'Copy' maintains and preserves the exact same folder hierarchy of sub-folders with photos. So if you can select a top-level folder to copy then it makes it easier to re-link the photos to the catalog when in the 'new' laptop.

    Re: 2. The Catalog file is the database that has all your editing and library information stored. Do you have this?

    You do NOT import anything!  The catalog already contains data about your photos- they will just be in a 'new' location that you will need to re-direct Lightroom to the new folder, or external drive, address.

    Re: 3. You are allowed two working installations of Lightroom, so you should have no trouble downloading and installing the same version as you had been using on the old laptop. Do you have your Registration Serial Number? (if not a CC subscriber)

    A good Link to read-

    https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

    2 replies

    Anthony_Jones40
    Anthony_Jones40
    Participating Frequently
    February 6, 2017

    Migrating Lightroom to a new computer:

    Once you have installed Lightroom on a new machine, the next step is to bring the Lightroom files and folders from your old machine to the new one.

    While Migrating Lightroom to a new computer there are few important points you have to keep in mind,

    • Migrating your photographs:  You might be having your photographs on Local drive or on an external source (external hard drive or a network drive). While migrating them to the new computer if you have them on the local hard drive make sure you do not disrupt the folder hierarchy as they are mapped in the same order in Lightroom that might break the link between the photos and the application.

    • Copying the Lightroom files i.e. lightroom catalog, backups and supporting files.

    • You can also bring the Lightroom preferences and presets to the new computer.

    Please click on the link below for the step by step instruction,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwNrOU0gvho

    Hope you find the information useful.

    Regards

    Anthony Jones.

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    February 6, 2017

    A summary-  but read the link below before attempting the 'move'.

    You need three essential things on the new laptop-

    1. Your original image files.

    2. Your Catalog file  (xxxxxx.LRCAT) from the 'old' laptop.

    3. Lightroom installed.  (If a CC subscriber- first install the Creative Cloud Desktop App, and install Lr from the App tab.)

    Re: 1. Can you copy your images from the old laptop to the new laptop? Or copy them to an external drive? It is essential that the 'Copy' maintains and preserves the exact same folder hierarchy of sub-folders with photos. So if you can select a top-level folder to copy then it makes it easier to re-link the photos to the catalog when in the 'new' laptop.

    Re: 2. The Catalog file is the database that has all your editing and library information stored. Do you have this?

    You do NOT import anything!  The catalog already contains data about your photos- they will just be in a 'new' location that you will need to re-direct Lightroom to the new folder, or external drive, address.

    Re: 3. You are allowed two working installations of Lightroom, so you should have no trouble downloading and installing the same version as you had been using on the old laptop. Do you have your Registration Serial Number? (if not a CC subscriber)

    A good Link to read-

    https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
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