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leonardnz
Participant
March 29, 2019
Answered

Moving LightRoom Classic CC from Mac to PC

  • March 29, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 9593 views

My patience with Apple has run out. After many years I am moving back to PC. This is because there are simply too many unexplained performance issues.

My question is, how to I best prepare to move my entire system.

I currently use an iMac where the LR Catalogue is on the internal disk & all the master image files are stored in an external RAID system (thunderbolt). It may be in the future that I trust Adobe to store & manage my master files, but not yet.

I sync my entire library to the cloud, which I use on mobile devices for reference. (I have played with editing, but it is still far too restrictive.)

I will install a Windows 10 PC next week & my intention is to simply copy the LR catalogue to the internal hard disk on the PC & plug in the external RAID to the thunderbolt port on the PC motherboard.

I have no idea if the RAID system will automatically work with the PC, or whether it will have to be reset & reformatted. I will work this one out.

I am assuming that the path to the master files will change, however much I try & keep the naming the same, so key question... How do I simply redirect the root of my entire storage system to refind all the images?

Will my catalogue syncing simply work, or will I have to redo it?

What else do I have to do to prepare for as seamless a transfer as possible?

Correct answer johnrellis

See this article, which covers all the details of moving from one computer to another, including Mac to Windows: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

3 replies

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drbkuzma
Participant
April 11, 2025

On my mac, the Lghtroom classic catalog and associated files were in a folder in the "Pictures" folder, as is standard, whereas nearly all my photographs were on a RAID externad drive. I moved the catalog and associated files to a similar position of the C drive of my PC and the photographs on the D drive to mimic my mac setup. Lightroom did not display the D drive in its finder so there was no display of my folder tree.

 

When I moved the catalog etc to the D drive, everything became visible in Lightroom finder and I only had to relink the files. Why does Lightroom behave in this way?

 

The attachment shows the appearance of the Lightroom browser when the catalog was on the C drive, note that the D drive is not listed. I tried renaming the D drive to match the name of my external RAID drive on my mac to no effect.

Rikk Flohr_Photography
Community Manager
Rikk Flohr_PhotographyCommunity Manager
April 12, 2025

You’ve posted to an ancient thread. It is highly unlikely that the issue described in this thread, though not impossible, is the same one you are currently experiencing. Rather than resurrect an old thread that is seemingly similar, you are better off posting to a new thread with fresh, complete information, including system information, a complete description of the problem, and step-by-step instructions for reproduction. 

 

If the issue is the same, we will merge you back into the appropriate location. 

This thread will be locked. 

 

Thank you!

 

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org
mrkongster
mrkongster
Participant
September 22, 2022

Hi leonardnz,

 

I came across your post on moving from mac to windows pc.  I am also thinking of the same but now in 2022.  I have been a mac user for over a decade for the iPhotos and now Apple Photos.  But since I start learning LR, I am thinking of going to the PC platform because of the upgradeability of the PC. I like to know how did your experience went since 2019.  

    johnrellis
    johnrellisCorrect answer
    Legend
    March 30, 2019

    See this article, which covers all the details of moving from one computer to another, including Mac to Windows: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

      L
      leonardnzAuthor
      Participant
      March 30, 2019

      Thanks John, that should hopefully cover it

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