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gavins33007671
Known Participant
July 21, 2022
Answered

how to move a series of Lightroom folders to a new hard drive location efficiently

  • July 21, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 7058 views

Hi All,

 

I have a series of Lightroom folders containing around 140gb of images I need to move from my laptop to an external hard drive as its filled up my laptops HD.

 

how do I do that in an effective way and connect them again to lightroom from the new hard drive location

 

many thanks in advance

 

Gavin

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer JohanElzenga

Just drag and drop them in the Lightroom folder panel. If the new drive does not show yet in the folder panel, then click on the plus icon in the upper right corner of the panel and choose to create a new folder (that you then create on that new drive). If you drag and drop in Lightroom, then the folders remain linked.

Alternatively you can copy the folders to the new drive in Windows Explorer / Macintosh Finder. Then in Lightroom, right-click on the top folder of the copied hierarchy and choose 'Update Folder Location'. In the dialog that follows you can navigate to the new drive and select the corresponding folder. The folder and all its subfolders will now show on the new drive, and no longer on the old drive. Once you have relinked the folders in Lightroom, you can delete them from the old drive too.

 

3 replies

dj_paige
dj_paige
Legend
July 22, 2022

There are continuing reports in this forum about people who try to bulk move lots of folders/photos from one location to another location, all within the Lightroom Classic interface, and encounter difficulties.

 

So in my opinion, the best method is to use your operating system to move the folders/photos and then re-link in Lightroom Classic using the "Find Missing Folder" command. Much more detail, step-by-step instructions, and screen captures are here.

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 22, 2022

    Please note that if you use your OS to drag folders from one drive to another, then you will normally not move them but copy them. That's fine and makes it even more secure, but that means the folders will not become 'missing' in Lightroom Classic. Consequently the next step is not to use 'Find Missing Folder' (because there is no missing folder that menu won't exist), but 'Update Folder Location'. After you have verified that everything went well, you must then delete the folders on the original drive manually (in your OS).

     

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    July 21, 2022

    Just drag and drop them in the Lightroom folder panel. If the new drive does not show yet in the folder panel, then click on the plus icon in the upper right corner of the panel and choose to create a new folder (that you then create on that new drive). If you drag and drop in Lightroom, then the folders remain linked.

    Alternatively you can copy the folders to the new drive in Windows Explorer / Macintosh Finder. Then in Lightroom, right-click on the top folder of the copied hierarchy and choose 'Update Folder Location'. In the dialog that follows you can navigate to the new drive and select the corresponding folder. The folder and all its subfolders will now show on the new drive, and no longer on the old drive. Once you have relinked the folders in Lightroom, you can delete them from the old drive too.

     

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
      Peru Bob
      Community Expert
      Peru BobCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 21, 2022

      I've moved this from the Using the Community forum (which is the forum for issues using the forums) to the Lightroom Classic forum so that proper help can be offered.

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