Deleting old Lightroom files

[RJS55]

I have been using Lightroom on a Mac since 2015 and have not deleted any related files.  I need the storage now and am wondering if it is safe to delete old files, particlurly the .zip but also some old ircat.x files?

I currently use LrC on an iMac and never use the old installed software.  Are the any old files (pre-2023) software or backup files I shouldn't delete? 

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

[AxelMatt · Accepted solution]

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I currently use LrC on an iMac and never use the old installed software.  Are the any old files (pre-2023) software or backup files I shouldn't delete? 

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By @RJS55

In this case I would deinstall all old version of software that you never used.

...  I need the storage now and am wondering if it is safe to delete old files, particlurly the .zip but also some old ircat.x files?

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By @RJS55

Old files can be deleted without any problems. The .zip - file seems to be backups of your catalogs. I would keep them on a external hard drive. 

If you don't be sure I would backup file on a external drive before deleting. So you can restore the files if needed.

[RJS55]

Thank you.

[RJS55]

F/U question: what is the proper way to uninstall old Lightroom software  I do not see an "uninstaller" offered.

Thanks,

[AxelMatt]

If it's Lightroom version from subscription you can deinstall this by using the Creative Desktop Client.

Uninstall or remove Adobe Creative Cloud apps

If you like to uninstall older versions of perpetaul licenses see here:

How to uninstall Lightroom manually (adobe.com)

[RJS55]

@AxelMatt thanks for the links.

Unfortunately I cannot drag and drop Lightroom 2 into the trash per the instructions.  When I try it fails to go to trash.  I don't see an uninstaller from Adobe.

Do you have a solution to try?  

Thanks in advance.

[AxelMatt]

@AxelMatt ...

Unfortunately I cannot drag and drop Lightroom 2 into the trash per the instructions.  

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By @RJS55

What's Lightroom 2?

Is this the very old perpetual license of Lightroom 2 version or is it Lightroom 2 from the Creative Cloud?

An application shouldn't drag to the trash. It must be uninstalled as described in the linked documents.

@AxelMatt thanks for the links.

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I don't see an uninstaller from Adobe.

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By @RJS55

Where do you looking for? Please describe more detailed what you have done.

[richardplondon · Accepted solution]

lrcat.x files - these are probably the Catalogs belonging to older software versions - not the older software itself. So it is not a matter of uninstalling.

What happens is: say you have a Catalog called "myname.lrcatalog" and you are using LrC version 9. Then you upgrade to LrC version 10. When you start that, it askes what Catalog you want to use and if you say "myname", a brand new copy of that is created called "myname-10.lrcatalog". The "myname" one remains on disk too - hereafter unused and ignored by the newer software which is now using the newer version. When you later upgrade to v11 software, the same thing happens again. Thus various older Catalogs will accumulate that you are no longer using. They are disposable, along with the support folders whose names begin with the same naming. But make sure not to delete the support folders that belong to any current Catalog that you are still actively using.

To clarify, deleting a redundant Catalog (which is a single file with .lrcatalog extension) from disk does not physically affect any photo files which may have been imported into that Catalog. A record of the importation of those photo files, as well as the edits applied, will have been preserved and converted into the newer Catalog copy as part of your migration from prior software version, onto newer software version.

[RJS55]

Very clear and helpful. Thank you @richardplondon