DO I need Mobiledownloads.lrdata data file?

[Jan0846]

DO I need Mobiledownloads.lrdata data file?  Can I delete it?

My photoshop won't work, (not enough space it says) so I'm trying to clean up hard drive. The biggest file by dar is Mobile Downloads.lrdata and is 76 GB. See screenshot attachment.  Do I need it? Can I delete it? I only use LR classic (though I think I think I used Lightroom CC at he beginning by mistake but to not use it on mobile devices.

[Jim Wilde]

That folder is the default location for any images synced from the Adobe cloud into your LrC catalog (the location can be changed in the LrC Preferences>Lightroom Sync tab). But before you delete it, you need to establish if the contents are current, so can you look in the Catalog panel in the LrC Library left-hand side panel and tell us if there is an All Synced Photographs collection listed immediately below the All Phoytographs item. If there is, what is the total number of images in that collection? 

[Jan0846]

Thanks.  I wondered if was osmething to do with syncing . I have paused syncing as I do not need LR photos to open on other devices. I attach a copy from my LR panel. Does this help?

[Jim Wilde]

If those 6878 images are ones that you've synced FROM LrC TO the cloud, they would possibly not be stored in that MobileDownloads location. If, however, they are images that you have synced from say a mobile phone (using the LrMobile app on the phone) then they would almost certainly be stored in that location. You need to look at the images in that All Synced Photographs special collection and figure out what they are. 

If you want to keep those images that are in that folder you can change the location of that folder (see that Preferences tab I mentioned earlier) to an external drive and LrC should MOVE them off your system drive to that new location.

But if you don't want those images in your LrC catalog at all, you can delete them from LrC, but be aware that if you do that the images would also be deleted from the Adobe Cloud (and thus from the LrMobile app on the phone). Make sure you understand that before doing anything hastily.

[Jan0846]

Thank you Jim.

I've had a quick look and some of them are virtual copies (result of an import from earlier catoalog)Despite this, life is too short to go through them one by one. I do not have LR (of any kind) on my iphone or ipad - so not sure why it says Mobile download  on that file on my hard drive.

If I succeed in moving the synced photos to an external hard drive - will this affect the folder on my hard drive? Or will I have to dleete it manually. I think I'm going to try transferring them anyway - nothing lost.

[Jim Wilde]

Did you at any time either install the Lightroom desktop app on your system and import some images from there? Or perhaps imported some via the LrWeb app in a browser? Either of those would put the originals in the cloud, which would then download into that MobileDownloads location when you sync the LrC catalog. 

I'm just trying to help you figure out what those images are, and where they came from. Can't you get some idea by selecting that folder in the Folders Panel and scroll through the grid to try to figure out what they are? 

[Jan0846]

I think I did have the 'wrong app' on my laptop at one time. I don't have a desktop. 

I have just tried to transfer to an ext drive. It came back with a list of files it couldn't transfer.

These may have been virtual copies or some which are 'missing' - die to a number of reasons - one of which was a hard drive which failed earlier this year. Fortunately most of the data  was on time machine and I managed to rescue it, I think - but time will tell when I can't find something. 

I can't detect anything on the hard drive yet, but the large folder has disappeared from the hard drive .However, the synced total remains the same (minus a few virtuals I deleted)

Thannks for your continues support.