How do I remove image from folder, without removing it from Lightroom entirely?

Report · Jul 15, 2023

I have switched from Lightroom CC into Lightroom Classic 12.4.

I am organizing the photos but I cannot figure out how to delete an image from a folder, without removing it from Lightroom entirely.

For example:

I have 100 images in Folder A.
I also have 100 images in Folder B.
I move 100 images from Folder B into Folder A, but I get a notice saying that 10 images in Folder B already exist in Folder A
So now Folder B has 10 images that also exist in Folder A
I want to delete Folder B since there is no need for it

How do i do this?

if i try to delete folder B with "remove", it tells me that the 10 images in Folder B will be removed from Lightroom (and i assume also from Folder A since they are the same)

If i try to delete the images individually with "remove", it also says that the image will be removed from Lightroom entirely (and i assume also from Folder A since they are same)

What am I missing?

When I was using Lightroom Cloud, it gave the option to remove from *just* the folder, without removing it from Lightroom entirely.

Any suggestions?

Report · Jul 15, 2023

I move 100 images from Folder B into Folder A, but I get a notice saying that 10 images in Folder B already exist in Folder A
So now Folder B has 10 images that also exist in Folder A

Did you do this in LrC or in your operating system? Are the "duplicate" images of those 10 photos in LrC or in your operating system or both? Please look and let us know.

if i try to delete folder B with "remove", it tells me that the 10 images in Folder B will be removed from Lightroom (and i assume also from Folder A since they are the same)

If, depending on your answers above, the 10 images are in LrC in both folder A and folder B, you should be able to delete the photo in B and it will be removed from LrC but the photo in A in LrC will not be deleted. But, there is the great big IF at the beginning of this paragraph.

Report · Jul 15, 2023

Thanks for your response.

As to where i am doing this, i am doing this within LrC.

As to whether they are duplicates, they are not exact duplicates.

I have “do not import duplicates” selected when i am importing and it imported both, so it would appear that LrC does not recognize it as a duplicate image upon import.

The images, however, are similar

for example,
One image (let’s say Photo 1, in Folder A) will be IMG_001.jpg and will be 25mb.
Second image (lets say Photo 2, in Folder B) will be IMG_001-2.jpg and will be 17mb.

The photos are the same but are saved at different sizes and have different labeling. Shouldn’t they be able to be saved in the same folder?

Secondly, While i cannot move Photo 1 to Folder B, I can move it to a third folder (Folder C). When i do this the image disappears from Folder A and is now in Folder C.

Does this mean that one image can only exist in one folder at a time?

in Lightroom CC it was possible to have the same image in different folders at the same time. If you wanted to take it out of one folder (but have it remain in the other folders) you could do that. But it seems as though in LrC it can only be in one folder at a time.

Report · Jul 15, 2023

One image (let’s say Photo 1, in Folder A) will be IMG_001.jpg and will be 25mb.
Second image (lets say Photo 2, in Folder B) will be IMG_001-2.jpg and will be 17mb.

The photos are the same but are saved at different sizes and have different labeling. Shouldn’t they be able to be saved in the same folder?

I suspect that the reason you can't move the second image into Folder A is that it already exists in folder A, according to your operating system. I suspect it also exists in Folder B. Please look at Folder A, using your operating system, and see if the second image is in there. Please look at Folder B, using your operating system, and see if the second image is in there. Let us know, if that's the case the solution is relatively simple.