Sort folders or collections by date

Question

I must be missing something obvious, but I can't find a way to sort folders or collections by date. How do you do this? My folders have descriptive names. I have no interest in naming them by date.

I would like the most recent at the top so that I could easily look back chronologically. This was dead easy in Aperture, but somehow I can't find sorting options for folders in Lightroom. Collections seems to allow sorting by name or by kind, but that doesn't help either.

As it is now, if I want to find the photos I shot a few weeks ago, if I don't remember the wording I used, I have to go back to the Finder, sort by date, find the folder, remember the name, and then go back into Lightroom and look for it in the alphabetical list.

johnrellis · Accepted Answer

"if I want to find the photos I shot a few weeks ago, if I don't remember the wording I used, I have to go back to the Finder, sort by date, find the folder, remember the name, and then go back into Lightroom and look for it in the alphabetical list."

A somewhat easier method: In Library Grid view, select All Photographs and sort in reverse capture time order (View > Sort > Capture Time, or use the Sort dropdown menu in the toolbar at the bottom). When you see one of the photos, right-click it and do Go To Folder In Library.

dj_paige · Answer

As it is now, if I want to find the photos I shot a few weeks ago, if I don't remember the wording I used ... Obviously, this is not a good strategy. Better to use descriptive folder names that you can remember; or even better yet, use descriptive keywords in LrC for the purposes of finding photos. You can also (building on the suggestion from @johnrellis ) use the Filter Bar in LrC to show only the photos taken on a specific date, or only the photos taken in the last few days, or only the photos taken in the current month, or only photos taken in January 2025, etc. Once you have done the filtering with the filter bar, you can find the folder name by right-clicking on a folder name and select Go To Folder in Library. There are a huge number of features in LrC to help you find your photos, but you have to use them. If folder names is the only way you can find the photos, then LrC and your choice of names limits your ability to find things.

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