Deleting photos from one folder that are in multiple folders

Question

I have a folder called " to edit" . In that folder I have photos and another folder called "more edit". I tried to send the photos in the 'more edit" folder to the "to edit" folder. Lightroom says it already exists. When I try delete them from the "more edit" folder , then it is deleted in both. So "more edit" is a sub folder in "to edit" folder. How can I delete them in the "more edit " folder. Thanks for any help

JohanElzenga · Answer

Sounds like a problem with two separate causes. Lightroom is not a file browser, it is a database application. A photo that is not registered in the database (imported into the catalog) will not show in Lightroom. So your first problem, that you can't move photos from the subfolder to the parent folder because Lightroom tells you they already exist, could be caused by duplicates in the parent folder that are there, but not shown by Lightroom. MacOS will prevent Lightroom from moving the photos because a copy already exists in that folder. So check the folders in the MacOS Finder.

The fact that deleting the photo from the subfolder also deletes it from the parent folder has a different reason. Most likely this is one and the same image. Lightroom has a menu 'Show Photos in Subfolders'. If that menu is checked, then the parent folder and the subfolder both show an image that is in the subfolder.

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