Issue with two separate Catalogs

[SCOTT5CDD]

Hi there,

This is going to sound really silly and i put it down to my inept nature with computers and technology. 
Initially when i signed up to Lightroom in 2019 i installed the Lightroom Classic on two separate devices (laptop and desktop) rather than do the CC version to ge tthe same catalog on both. I'm regretting it now as i can only work on certain images on either the laptop or desktop. 

Since setting it up, i have started to photograph weddings and other corporate work (which i mainly do on the desktop) but it would be handy to edit on the go on the laptop (although not sure i have enough storage for this now. 

Is there a way to get my catalogs on both devices but without losing any images? 

Also as an aside, i believe i've lost some holiday images from July 2022 from my laptop? Is there a way to revert back to previous save points but without losing images since? 

Sorry if i've not explained it very well. I'm not the most tecnical of people

Thanks in advance. 

Regards, 

Scott 

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

To use the same catalog on two computers, you need to have the catalog, as well as the images on an external drive that you move between the computers.

This will probably make LrC slower, how much will depend on the type and interface of the drive. I imagine that using a 5400 rpm spinning drive will be quite slow.

You would need to copy both catalog folders to the external drive, open one of the catalogs, and merge it with the other catalog. (File > Import from another catalog)

It is likely that LrC will report most, if not all of your images as missing, so you have fix that in both catalogs before merging them.

See https://www.lightroomqueen.com/moving-lightroom-free-ebook/

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-to-lightroom-catalog-multiple-computers/

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

Another method (that others probably will warn you against) is to keep the catalog and the images on Dropbox.

I have done this without issues for years, but there are certain rules that need to be followed strictly.

• In Dropbox > Preferences > Sync, Save hard drive space automatically must be set to Off.
  If set to On, local copies will be deleted, and LrC cannot work with images in the cloud.
• In Dropbox > Preferences > Sync, New files default must be set to Available offline.
• If both computers are running, only one of them can have LrC open.
• Dropbox must have finished syncing before a computer can be turned off.
• Dropbox must have finished syncing before Lightroom can be launched.
• Breaking the last two rules may lead to catalog corruption.
• Using any other cloud storage than Dropbox (like OneDrive) will most likely lead to issues.

Also as an aside, i believe i've lost some holiday images from July 2022 from my laptop? Is there a way to revert back to previous save points but without losing images since? 

By @SCOTT5CDD

Does LrC report the images as missing? (exclamation mark in the top right corner of the thumbnail)