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Craig5E0A
Participant
October 25, 2025
Question

How to Disable Gallery Actions Ellipsis

  • October 25, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 91 views

I need to display my photos on an iPad at art shows. Lightroom will do the job but I need to disable the ellipsis next each gallery to prevent a viewer from deleting a gallery, moving photos, etc. I can use the ios  Guided Access to grey out the editing tools on the edge of the screen, but doing the same for the gallery ellipsis would interfere with viewing photos. Is there any way to do this or a workaround? Thanks much.

    1 reply

    A
    Community Manager
    AlekeCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 27, 2025

    Hi @Craig5E0A, thanks so much for reaching out!
    Could you share a bit more about the issue? For example, which version of Lightroom you’re using to create your galleries. Also, when you view them on your iPad, are you using a public link or opening them directly in the app?
    Thanks a lot!
    Alek

    *(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*
    C
    Craig5E0AAuthor
    Participant
    October 28, 2025
    Alek,

    I appreciate the response. Here is some additional detail …

    - I want to use Lightroom on my iPad to display my photos in galleries at my booth at art shows beginning in December. This is to give customers a better idea of what’s available from my full portfolio, not just the relatively few pieces I’m able to have with me. I have an iPad specifically for this purpose with no other apps or data on it.

    - I need to do this offline for a few reasons: 1) unreliability of a cell signal and lack of WiFi where I happen to be set up, 2) expenses to connect to the Internet, and 3) having the public use my device while connected to the Internet.

    - I’ve tested this scenario extensively by Airtiming JPGs from my MacBook to the iPad, where they go locally to the Apple Photos app. Then Lightroom can see them there, and I can then arrange them into Galleries. They look pretty good and will serve the need.

    - The basic issue is the Lightroom doesn’t have a view only mode that disables all the editing and image management tools. My workarounds to be able to go forward at this point are:

    - Use the iOS Guided Access settings to restrict access to only Lightroom. This seems to work well.
    - Use the Guided Access feature to allow greying out areas of the screen that I want to disable (i.e., the editing tools). It works well as far as the disabling. However, when you use this feature, the grey still shows when you’re in run time, so I can only use this to disable controls on the edges of the screen that won’t interfere with viewing photos.
    - Use iOS to lock the iPad in portrait mode because the greyed out areas specified in portrait orientation don’t automatically adjust when flipping the iPad to landscape.
    - Because I can only go this far, I don’t have a way to disable other “dangerous” controls in the middle of the screen where an image would be. These are mainly under the ellipsis next to each gallery and include Delete photo, Move photo, etc. So my main need is to be able to disable these ellipses.

    - The Lightroom version on my iPad is very 11.0.0 ED5A57/220.

    Thanks so much,

    Craig
    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    November 18, 2025

    Hi @Craig5E0A,

     

    Thank you for the detailed breakdown. That really helps clarify the exact workflow and the constraints you are working under for offline art-show presentations.

     

    Lightroom on iPad currently does not offer a dedicated view-only or kiosk mode. As a result, the ellipsis menu beside each gallery cannot be disabled or hidden in the app. Guided Access is the correct approach for restricting editing tools, but as you discovered, it cannot block controls that sit within the main content area without interfering with the presentation itself.

     

    Given your requirements and offline limitations, here are the practical options available today:

    • Use a shared gallery link, but only for viewing. This is the only true view-only mode, and all management options are hidden. However, it requires internet access, so it will not work for your offline booth scenario.

     

    • Use the iOS Photos app instead of Lightroom for on-device presentation. Photos do not reveal destructive controls during basic viewing and can display albums offline without requiring management menus to be visible to viewers. You can still manage and prepare all images in Lightroom beforehand, then export JPEGs to Photos for the show.

    • If you prefer to stay inside Lightroom, build a single gallery that contains all images you want to show and duplicate that gallery as a backup before the event. This does not prevent accidental taps, but it gives you a rapid way to restore the gallery structure if something is changed by a viewer.

    At the moment, there is no in-app method to disable the ellipsis or convert Lightroom for iPad into a locked presentation mode.

     

    Best,
    Anshul Saini

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