How to upgrade from Lr Classic v9 in an old Mac to v11 in a new Mac Studio?

[HVJ99]

I stayed with v9.4 of Lr Classic since 2020 in an old Mac, with an active subscription.

I am transitioning to a new Mac Studio and want to upgrade to Lr Classic v11.4 with a catalog of 100k photos.

I will appreciate advice or reference on how to do this safely.

Thank you!

[Sameer K · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I'd love to help you figure this out.

Lightroom Classic offers you compatibility with early versions of Lightroom & you can upgrade a catalog with Lightroom Classic.

You would first want to move your presets & the catalog.lrcat, catalog.lrcat-data, Previews.lrdata, and (if present) Smart Previews.lrdata files from the old mac to your new Mac Studio. Please note that the original images are stored separately from the catalog itself. Moving the catalog & related files does not transfer your original photos.

Once the catalog is on the MacBook, you can double-click on the catalog to open with Lightroom Classic. This should prompt Lightroom Classic's upgrade pop-up screen as follows.

Check this article for help with moving the catalog to a new computer and upgrading an old catalog to work on a more recent version of Lightroom Classic: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/create-catalogs.html

We hope it helps,

Thanks!
Sameer K

[HVJ99]

Worked very well!  Thank you!

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

Step-by-step instructions

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

[HVJ99]

Very good tips!  Thank you!