Lightroom folder question

[Izzy11201]

When I first installed Lr Classic, it created a "Lightroom\" folder (along with associated sub-folders and files) in the "Pictures\" (windows) folder on the hard drive of my computer.  That of course is where the catalog is, and where I've been using it.  That folder and its associated sub-folders and files, has now grown to the point where it occupies almost a quarter of the hard drive.  I recently copied that folder and its contents to an external with a lot more room.  That said.  If I either move, or delete, the existing lightroom folder from "Pictures\".  Will the Lightroom program generate a new "Lightroom\" folder along with the associated sub-folders and files in the "Pictures\" folder?....Izzy

[DClark064]

If you open the LrC catalog in the new folder it will operate fine and will not re-create the folder on the original drive.  You need to make sure to open the catalog in its new location.  The easiest way to do that is to navigate to that folder and double click the lrcat file.  After that, if you have LrC set up to open the last catalog, it will open the correct catalog.

It is important that the lightroom folder is on a fast drive.  LrC does a lot of I/O to the files in that folder so a fast drive helps the responsiveness.

[Izzy11201]

I understand that.  What I want to know is, if I remove the original Lightroom folder, from the Pictures folder on my hard drive.  Will lightroom generate a new Lightroom folder, along with its associated sub-folders and files, in that Pictures folder.  The idea being that the new folder and associated sub-folders and files, would have no data in them, so they wouldn't take up so much room on the computers hard drive, but would be available for possible later use (if necessary). 

[DClark064 · Accepted solution]

If you want to open a new catalog, use the menu item File>New catalog...

You can then create a new catalog in any folder you wish.  

LrC will not automatically create a new catalog in the default folder .

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

Open the catalog folder you copied to the external hard drive. Launch Lightroom Classic by double clicking the catalog file. From now on Lightroom Classic will remember that this is the catalog to use, and will no longer use the old folder on the internal hard disk, nor create a new one there if you delete that folder.

[Izzy11201]

Thanks all for the replies.  The last two, while not exactly what I was looking for, did get me going in the right direction.  That said, I tried something and it seems to have worked, and given me what I had in mind....Izzy

[Reddings]

I appreciate all these questions and answers! I just got LRC a couple of months ago and organizing my folders and library has been a challenge. I honestly don't know how I'd ever figure this thing out without everyone's real world examples. HUGE shout out to the experts on here; you are appreciated! 🙂 

[DClark064]

How did these answers get marked as the correct answers? 

They seem to be essentially identical.

Did Izzy mark them correct?  How does this work?

[JohanElzenga]

They are not identical at all. I explain how to let Lightroom Classic use the existing catalog, when that has been copied to a new location. Somehow you'll have to let Lightroom Classic know that, otherwise it will continue to launch with the old catalog. Your answer explains how to create a brand new catalog. That is obviously not the same thing.

The OP can mark answers to his questions as correct, and moderators can do that.

[DClark064]

OK, I assume Izzy marked them.  Who the moderators may be is a mystery.

The point you mention was covered in my first reply.  My second reply, marked correct,  was an answer to Izzy's follow up.

[JohanElzenga]

OK, I missed that and maybe Izzy missed it too. The reason that moderators can mark an answer as correct is simple: A marked answer can be very useful for other people who read the thread, especially if the thread gets very long. Not every OP marks the correct answer however, and others sometimes mark their own 'thank you' answer as correct. It's good that moderators can tidy that up.

[Izzy11201]

It's more a case of partial misunderstanding the replies than missing them.  I marked them both correct because combining what I did understand from both replies, pointed me in the right direction to go to come up with the solution for what I was trying to do.  I think I've got it.  It looks like it'll work but I want to doublecheck it out.  If it does I'll post it here....Izzy

[Izzy11201]

The recent upgrade, when LR Classic went from 13.3 to 14.  Required the existing 13.3 catalog to be upgraded to work with the newer version.  This was done!  The catalog label (13.3) however, did not change.  I don't know if it was supposed to work that way, but it did.

As I said in an earlier post, I had copied the entire "Lightroom\" folder from "Pictures\" (Windows computer), with all its sub-folders and files, to an external.  I plugged the external in, updated and openned the catalog on it.  Closed it and removed the external from the computer.

Went back into LR, and like Johan and DClark said, Lr remembered opening the catalog on the external and tried to open it again, but the external was no longer there.  What I got, was a dialog box, indicated that Lr couldn't find the catalog and did I want to open a different one.  The choices where, the now updated 13.3 on the HD, or go with the default.  I picked default.

Now!  Under the general tab in preferences, there's a section called "Default Catalog".  "When starting up use this catalog".   There's a drop-dwn list, and one of the choices is.  " Load most recent catalog".  That's what I have checked.

When I clicked "go to default" in the dialog box.  A brand new (empty) LR catalog openned.  I closed it, went to "Lightroom\" folder in "Pictures\", and sure enough.  There was that brand new (and empty) LrCat file and the associated sub-folders, which is exactly what I was looking for.  I can now remove the 13.3 stuff and recover the 200+ gigs it occupies, to use for something else.  I just have to remember to plug in the external as the primary location for the active LrCat.....Izzy

[JohanElzenga]

"The catalog label (13.3) however, did not change.  I don't know if it was supposed to work that way, but it did."

It is supposed to work that way now. Lightroom Classic 14 does not change the name of the catalog when it upgrades it. It is explained in the upgrade dialog, but nobody seems to read that. There is a new 'Rename Catalog' menu in case you do want to keep the version number in the name.

[DClark064]

"There was that brand new (and empty) LrCat file and the associated sub-folders, which is exactly what I was looking for. I can now remove the 13.3 stuff and recover the 200+ gigs it occupies"

You seem to believe that you need a Lightroom folder and catalog in the Pictures folder on your C drive (the default location).  That's not required.  If you have your LrC catalog on another drive, which you do, you can just delete the Lightroom folder in the Pictures folder.  If it is your intention to use two catalogs, then you are doing the right thing, but you may want to investigate the issues associated with maintaining multiple catalogs.  I don't recommend it. 

[Izzy11201]

"You seem to believe that you need a Lightroom folder and catalog in the Pictures folder on your C drive "

Not at all.  It was there (the active catalog) out of conveniance.  Once it grew to the point where it was taking up almost a quarter of the hd that changed.  As far as maintaining multiple (active) catalogs goes.  That's not what I'm doing.  I have only one active catalog, but that is now on an external rather than the hd of the computer.  I do maintain a copy or two for back-up purposes, but it's still only one active catalog.