Want to move Lightroom Classic Raw files to larger external hard drive

[D R Smith]

I know this has sort of been discussed before but not quite what I have in mind.  Please bear with me.  I'm using a Windows 11 machine with Lightroom Classic v11.4. (the latest).  I import and keep all my raw files on a Seagate external hard drive.  That drive is running low on room. I want to move the raw files to a larger (and faster) external hard drive and use it as my working drive. Is this hard to do?  Will someone please direct me to some plain language steps how to do this?  I've looked on the Net but the amount of info is overwhelming.

 Thanks very much!

[dj_paige]

Detailed explanation, step by step, with screen captures are here: https://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

Scroll down to the section entitled "Part 2 — Updating Folder Location". Do not change the folder hierarchy on the new drive and do not move photos from one folder to another within the hierarchy.

[D R Smith]

Thank you very much but this does not address my issue (or if it does I'm not sharp enough to understand it.)  I just want to know the process for adding and using a new, larger and faster, external hard drive in Lightroom Classic.  Just plugging the drive in does not seem to work.  

[dj_paige]

You said earlier that "I want to move the raw files to a larger (and faster) external hard drive and use it as my working drive", which I thought I understood, and for which the instructions I gave work perfectly. Now you talk about "adding", which apparently is something else than what you said originally, and I don't grasp the problem. Please explain clearly.

[D R Smith]

It wasn't my intention to be confusing, but when it comes to Lightroom file handling, I'm already confused. Thanks for trying to help.  I'll bang around with it till I get what I want.

[dj_paige]

I'm not trying to make you go away and figure it out yourself, I am trying to get you to explain clearly. Once I understand what you want to do, I'm sure someone here can explain it.

[D R Smith]

It's not you.  It's my own frustration trying to articulate what I want,

[DdeGannes]

@D R Smith, dj_paige is a ledgand in this forum. See the screen file for his profile.

[Per Berntsen]

 Just plugging the drive in does not seem to work.  

By @D R Smith

If you have already copied the files to the new drive, with the same folder structure as on the old drive, this will work, provided that the new drive has the same Windows drive letter as the old drive.

So if the old drive had the drive letter D – the new drive will also need to have the drive letter D.

To change drive letters on Windows 11, see https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-change-drive-letter-on-windows-11/

[kentdesign]

So do you want to ADD another external drive to store your next Raw files or do you want to MOVE all the raw files you now have to a larger external ?  Both are fairly easy to do and yes,

DJ and DdeGannes are both great in the forums...

[D R Smith]

I want to add a new, larger external hard drive to Lightroom Classic, then move all the files on my old and smaller external hard drive to the larger one.  Once those files are moved, I want to use the new, larger external hard dive for all future raw file inports.   

[dj_paige]

I want to add a new, larger external hard drive to Lightroom Classic, then move all the files on my old and smaller external hard drive to the larger one.  Once those files are moved, I want to use the new, larger external hard dive for all future raw file inports.   

By @D R Smith

The instructions I gave earlier still apply. After you have successfully moved the photos and linked them in LrC, new imports should go straight to the new drive by selecting the proper Destination folder on the new drive in the Lightroom Classic Import dialog box.

[Rob_Cullen]

To ADD another DRIVE to the Folder panel of LrC-

You only need to Import one photo from the new drive (Using the ADD option) and henceforth the new drive appears in the LrC folder panel.

[kentdesign]

perfect!

[kentdesign]

So to follow up, were you able to ADD the new larger drive?

Basically you have two separate steps to follow.

The first would be to add that new Large drive to your Lightroom Catalog.

Then when you see that new Large drive in the left hand panel of LR, one of us here can show you how to move the older photo files from the smaller drives to the new larger drive.

The "trick" if we can call it that, is to use Lightroom as a hub to move the photo files.  

It is easier to have Lightroom do the moving than to use Windows explorer to do it.

Once you get the concept that Lightroom is the hub or station master for directing where your photo files are, it starts becoming really clear.