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ninalily
ninalily
Participant
September 29, 2019
Question

Moving Lightroom CC files from cloud to external harddrive

  • September 29, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 586 views

So, I only recently upgraded from my very old photoshop elements to a photo plan with lightroom. Due to little space on my computer (macbook pro), I've got Lightroom CC and photoshop installed. I have now ran into the problem of trying to move my photos (imported into lrcc) to an external harddrive, in order for me to be able to import new photos. As a student, paying more for upgrading the cloud isn't an option, especially when I have a 2tb external drive dedicated to my photos. So, how do I move all these files over to my external? Most of what I can find seems to be about migrating from classic to cc, which is not what I'm doing, as I don't even have classic installed (that might change when I can remove some of the programs I need for my studies, but until then, it'll have to wait).

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2 replies

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 30, 2019

Lightroom CC stores all the orginals in the cloud. You can save a copy locally or export a copy, but you won't be able to work with photos in Lightroom if you remove the online version to make room for new uploads. If you don't want to increase your online storage, then it is probably better to use Lightroom Classic, not Lightroom CC. Lightroom Classic is the version that works with local originals.

-- Johan W. Elzenga
    ninalily
    ninalilyAuthor
    Participant
    September 30, 2019
    Thanks! I'll most likely migrate over to classic, then. Does classic work as seamless with photoshop as CC does?
    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 30, 2019
    Yes, Lightroom Classic works seamlessly with Photoshop.
    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    selondon
    Community Expert
    selondonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 30, 2019

    You can either select the photos and use ‘Save To’, which may be a bit of a pain, or use the Lightroom Downloader tool: https://lightroom.adobe.com/lightroom-downloader

     

    You may want to consider using Classic full time if you have cloud limitations. You can they just store locally and sync required Collections (Albums) to the Cloud.

     

    Another option would be to install Classic, set the Cloud Download Folder (in Preferences) to a hard drive with available space and turn Sync on. All file in the Cloud will download to that drive and be available in Classic. On completion, they can be deleted from the Cloud.

      ninalily
      ninalilyAuthor
      Participant
      September 30, 2019
      Thanks, I'll look into that, then!
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