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205EdMLewis
Participant
February 26, 2017
Answered

LR Freezes When Moving Folders

  • February 26, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 1054 views

Hello! I have pictures in two directories after moving from Elements to Lightroom. I can't drag and drop folders from the "Ed's Pics" directory (45K) to the "Pictures" directory (15K) in Lr without my system freezing. Even trying to move a folder with just one picture causes Lr to freeze solid. I have removed all the 0 byte and trash folders. If there is no fix using Lr to move the folders, can I use the OS instead? How? Many Thanks!

System Specs: Lr Ver 6.5; Win 10 Home; Intel i7-6700@4Ghz; 32GbRAM; GeForce GTX1070; OS on Samsung 500Gb SSD; Pics on WD 5Tb HDD 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer dj_paige

    Use your operating system to move the photos/folders, and then in Lightroom, follow these instructions to re-connect:

    Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders

    2 replies

    dj_paige
    dj_paigeCorrect answer
    Legend
    February 26, 2017

    Use your operating system to move the photos/folders, and then in Lightroom, follow these instructions to re-connect:

    Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders

    2
    205EdMLewisAuthor
    Participant
    February 27, 2017

    I read through the documentation and it gives a good solution. I have discovered a few complications though.

    1. There are 2045 folders in the "Ed's Pics" directory. That's a lot of folders to move.

    2. The formats are different in the two directories. "Ed's Pics" is a single folder YYYY MM DD (no hyphens) while "Pictures" is YYYY / YYYY-MM-DD (with the parent folder for the year and hypens). This seems like the Lr default.

    3. I just discovered that many of the folder dates in "Ed's Pics" are out by one day from the creation date in the photos. I'm not sure how that happened or when.

    Would it make sense for me to do the following since I want all the photos to be in the "Pictures" directory format:??

    1. Save the Metadata to the files.

    2. Export the "Ed's Pic" directory to a different drive...not as a catalogue. OR just move it in the OS.?

    3. Remove the missing "Ed's Pics" directory and photos from Lr.

    4. Re-import the photos into Lr. They should then be added to the "Pictures" directory and in the correct folder format. I suspect that this method would also correct the one day offset as well.

    Many thanks for your thoughts.

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 27, 2017

    1. Save the Metadata to the files.

    2. Export the "Ed's Pic" directory to a different drive...not as a catalogue. OR just move it in the OS.?

    3. Remove the missing "Ed's Pics" directory and photos from Lr.

    4. Re-import the photos into Lr. They should then be added to the "Pictures" directory and in the correct folder format. I suspect that this method would also correct the one day offset as well.

    NONE of the above!!!

    Do not attempt to export or re-import. This will only make more chaos.

    Follow the "Correct Answer" from DJ_Paige, and use the OS to 'move' the ENTIRE folder {Eds Pics} as a sub-directory into the {Pictures} directory. Then re-link the folder {Eds Pics} as advised by the info in the link given.

    Do not be concerned with the sub-folder structure. All your image searches for keywords, dates, etc, are easily handled by Lightroom.

    Folders are for "Storage", Lightroom Catalog is for "Data Management".

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
    ManiacJoe
    ManiacJoe
    Inspiring
    February 26, 2017

    Lightroom is not a file browser.

    Unfortunately, when trying to move large numbers of files, LR can sometimes drop the ball.

    Your best bet is to use Windows File Explorer to move your folders and files, without LR running.

    Then, in LR, go to the Folders panel in the Library module and do a "find missing" or "relocate" as needed.

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