Starting over Lightroom Classic - Moving all pictures to a single folder

OK, guys. Thanks for the input

I am almost done with part one of my process.

It is impossible to work from one huge folder. So I created temporary folders "ToTransferRAW" and "ToTransferJPG". I then did a search in Windows using *.CR2, allowed the screen to populate with some files , then selected a bunch, say 3,000, moved them to "ToTransferRAW", (overwritting any duplicates it might find), then Imprting into Lightroom using MOVE, then deleting what was left in the ToTransferRAW folder. Rinse and repeat, but very tedious. Similar process with the JPGs (*.jpg) and finally a handy search "NOT kind:folder" which finds every file in a folder and subfolders

To complicate things, I had made copies of multiple directories in many hard drives over the years. A real mess.

I am now in the process of finding duplicates. For anyone interested, I am using Cisdem Duplicate Finder (20 bucks) which allows you to find duplpicate pictures even if they have different names. Very cool

Thanks again

Luis

First, all photos in a single folder is not a good idea.

By @dj_paige

+1; a really bad idea. 

As to how to move forward, it is a bit like asking a group of people how you should organize your paperwork. Everyone has a slightly (or massively different) process. You need one that works for you. For example, some suggest using multiple folders with date. Never work for me; I'm really awful at dates. But I am good at subjects. I don't care that I shot the dogs in White Sands in 2020, 2019 or 2022. I do know if I want to find shots of dogs in White Sands, I have one folder for that, and I can now sort by date (which again isn't useful for me). Others would find that a weak system, but it works for me. 

I suggest you get and read "The DAM book". It is a great start for giving you ideas on how you may wish to organize your photos, use keywords and smart collections etc. Come up with something that works for you. 

If you are willing to lose any virtual copy you may have, then there is another way that does it all automatically. Make sure you have enough disk space to copy all 70,000 images. Go to 'All Photographs', expand all stacks if you have stacked images, select all images and then export them into one big folder with 'original' as file type. That will save copies with edits and keywords in either an XMP sidecar file (raw files) or in metadata (dng and rgb files).

Next, create a new catalog, choose Import, select 'Move' at the top center of the dialog (you don't want to create a third copy of each image) and in the destination panel select a folder that is going to be the top folder for your new folder structure. Under 'Organize' select 'By Date' and choose the dated folder structure you want. Your images will now be imported with all their edits still intact, moved to the new top folder and organized in the new folder structure.

If everything looks fine, then you can delete the original image folders and the original catalog, because these are now obsolete duplicates. Be aware that the edit history panel will only show the import step, not the edit steps you made in the old catalog. That is not very important however. The edits are there and that is what matters. You will also not have any old collections anymore so you will need to rebuild these, but if you worry about your folder structure then I assume you do not use collections very much, if at all.