Upgrading Mac OS (old) and Lightroom (old)

[johnr300]

I am using Lightroom 5.7 and my current Mac OS is 10.14.6. I am going to upgrade to OS 14 (Sonoma) and know I will need to upgrade Lightroom, too. (Yes, I am way behind.) How do I make so upgrades without losing my current cataloging? Thanks for any advice.

[Bill Sprague]

Make sure your Mac meets the Lightroom Classic system requirements.   https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

The current version of Lightroom Classic will see the old catalog, read it and make a new catalog.  The old catalog and old version won't be replaced.  Once you are in the new version, any new editing changes will only work in the new version.    Be sure you have data backups in case there are any surprises!

[johnr300]

Thanks for the information. Time for a leap of faith (after backing it up).

[Rob_Cullen]

Be aware that BIll Sprague is talking about Lightroom-CLASSIC which is the upgrade from v5.7.. (Not "Lightroom"),

Lightroom-Classic is only available in the Photography Plan 20GB.  (Not the Lightroom Plan)

@ BUY PHOTOGRAPHY PLANS

[johnr300]

Thanks for the info. That's the plan I'm looking at.

[Geoff the kiwi]

Let's be clear your Lightroom 5.7 is a catalog model with your image files stored on your local disks?? Rather than the Cloud storage based Lightroom?? How old is it??

[johnr300]

Yes, the photos are stored on local disks. Unsure exactly how old it is, but 5.7 was the latest version when I purchased it. Is there anything I should be aware of since the photos are stored locally?

[Rob_Cullen]

It really is simple (if you know how 🙂  ), but be aware of-

1) Your v5.7 Catalog name and the folder in your system where it is stored.

2) You have a backup of the catalog on another physical drive.

Then the process is to-

1) Install the Creative Cloud Desktop App (This controls your subscription and any installs of apps)

2) Use the Desktop App to Install Lightroom-Classic

3) Start (Open) Lightroom-Classic.

If LrC opens with an empty catalog (no photos) then it has started a new catalog, so then-

1) Close Lightroom-Classic

2) Find your v5.7 Catalog in Finder (You should be aware of this now)

3) [Double-Click] the catalog .LRCAT file.   ([Double-click] is a way of starting any .LRCAT catalog file.)

4) Agree to upgrade the catalog (v5.7 > v13) as suggested by @Bill Sprague in his early post.

5) Set the Lightroom-Classic PREFERENCES to 'Always open' this upgraded (-v13 ) catalog.

(Any unwanted empty Catalog can be deleted when your v13 catalog is running successfully.)

[johnr300]

Great information. Thanks. (I know where the .LRCAT file is and have the folder backed up a couple of ways.)

[John Waller]

my current Mac OS is 10.14.6. I am going to upgrade to OS 14 (Sonoma)

By @johnr300

Just going back a step, are you upgrading your existing Mac or buying a new one?

If you're upgrading, have you checked that your Mac is compatible with Sonoma?

macOS Sonoma is compatible with these computers - Apple Support

[johnr300]

Thanks. It is compatable (and Sonoma was installed successfully).