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Rogus Ratus
Participant
November 12, 2025
Question

Hybrid Cloud / Local Storage Challenge

  • November 12, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 43 views

OK to start with, please note I went from using no Lightroom to using Lightroom Cloud desktop on my Mac. I have never used Lightroom Classic.

I have a 4TB cloud account and I keep a local copy of RAW files in an external SSD. This is acheived by pointed to the SSD in my cache setting where I also have "keep a copy of originals raw files" checked so at any time my raw images are both in the cloud and on my SSD. My SSD actually fills up when my cloud account gets to 3.6 TB because I assume Adobe compresses on their servers but thats not relevant here.

I am at the limit of what I want to pay for cloud storage so I want to explore the "Local" tab in Lightroom. What I would like is to use other photos from another SSD to supplement my cloud storage, or move less important folder/albums etc, to the local SSD - but I see two problems:

1) Can I really only have local files folders on the Mac Pictures folder on the main Disk - I don't see a setting to change this? and
2) Because I have enabled saving of originals in cache it looks like they are going to fill my cache SSD so I am not going to gain any space.

Anyone been through something similar and have any answers?

Many thanks

1 reply

R
Rogus RatusAuthor
Participant
November 19, 2025

I know this is a little specialised (although it shouldn't be)so bumping.

Noel Orridge
Community Manager
Noel OrridgeCommunity Manager
Community Manager
November 19, 2025

Hi @Rogus Ratus! Thank you for reaching out! I apologize for being late to the conversation. 

 

The Local option you mentioned only saves the images on your system drive. There is no preference to relocate this to an external SSD anywhere. You can import photos directly into “Local,” which will keep them on your Mac's internal drive (in the Pictures folder), not in the cloud. This allows you to have both cloud photos and local-only photos in the same app. This approach doesn't require Lightroom Classic. 

 

Another approach is to include Lightroom Classic in your workflow. Classic lets you store photos anywhere, including external SSDs, multiple drives, and more. You can move older or less important images out of the cloud and keep only what you need online.

You still use Lightroom Cloud for mobile and current projects, but Classic becomes your main library. You choose which albums sync to the cloud, so your storage stays under control.


Hope this helps!

Noel
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