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Participant
June 20, 2017
Question

Cannot Rearrange Files into Custom Order

  • June 20, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 7328 views

I used to be able to rearrange files in Collections, but all of a sudden it quit. I'm up to date in all ways. Currently working from a Macbook Pro w/ a track pad. Often work from external hard drives. Any ideas how to get it working again?

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1 reply

Rob_Cullen
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 20, 2017

Explain what you mean by "all of a sudden it quit"

You cannot re-arrange the sort order in these circumstances-

1. You are looking at photos in a Collection SET. Or a Smart Collection.

2. You are looking at a Folder that contains sub-folders.

Also you can only drag & drop photos into another sort order by holding the mouse cursor on the photo thumbnail. They will not drag if you try to drag from the grey border.

Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
ambwriAuthor
Participant
June 20, 2017

Thanks for your reply. I have experience using the custom order and rearranging feature, and have tried all of those things you mention. That is why I say it stopped working all of a sudden. Something has prevented me from using the click-and-drag option, even under the correct circumstances--perhaps a glitch. When I hold down on a thumbnail, it doesn't even give any indication that it can move.

Are there possibly some codes somewhere that are stuck?

Participant
June 28, 2024

same issue. Can't figure out how to fix it though.


I've had this issue many times. The solution (for me) was quite simple: if you have any subfolders, Lightroom will not let you rearrange your photos. If you want to reaorder them, click on the "Library" menu and uncheck "Show Photos in Subfolders".
After that, you will have some work to reestablish the order you want, but at least it works.