Which old Lightroom folders to delete and which to keep to get started Again

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
November 3, 2020
4 replies
478 views

I'm trying to use Lightroom Classic for the first time in years since I first used LR. I have several old Backup, catalogue and preview folders in my user folder. I do not want to keep any of the Lightroom 3 Catalogues, Lightroom 4 Catalog Previews.

I don't mind keeping any Lightromm Settings I may have. What I need to know is what to throw away and what to keep so as not to corrupt the application by deleting something I need to keep.

When the Lightroom folder is simplified of old material I want to import several years worth of raw photos, .xmp files, .psd and web sized jpegs just as I have them sorted out in my desktop folders.

May I have direction please?

Import and export

This topic has been closed for replies.

JP Hess

Inspiring

If you are certain you are no longer using those catalogs then it is safe to delete them. Remember, catalogs did not contain images. Catalogs reference where images are stored, and contained a history of what you have done with those images. However, images are stored in folders on the computer. So it's up to you to determine whether or not you need those older catalogs.

dj_paige

Legend

Agreeing with @JP Hess , there is no reason to start over. Let Lightroom Classic 10.0 convert your old catalogs and use them, and then you don't lose your old work. However, if you really think you want to start over, the at least look at these files using Lightroom Classic 10.0, and then you can determine if you really want to keep them or not. Those of us here across the internet can't really say if you need them or not.

E

earthlight10794457Author

Participating Frequently

Many thanks JimHess and dj_paige. I'm at the point now of consolidating folders of old photos and edits into one place before I import anything.

My question remains about deleting old Backups catalogues and previews. I have 25.32 GB in the Lightroom folder with 2.9 GB of Backups and 22.16 GB of Lightroom Catalogue Previews (an irdata file.) These are Lightroom 3 and Lightroom 4 versions of LR. When I try to open a catalogue or preview LR says it can't find the photos.

I'd like to delete all but the last folder in each catgory of backups to save some disk space. Is that okay?

screenshot of Lightroom folder in Users folder.

Anyway, I'd like to delete all but the last folder in each catgory of backups to save some disk space. Is that okay?

JP Hess

Inspiring

Are you absolutely certain you want to completely start over? LrC 10 has the capability to upgrade the catalog you were using with Lightroom 6 so that all the work you did using the previous version is still intact, and you can just continue using that upgraded catalog. All that would be necessary would be for you to delete An outdated catalog and a couple of other folders and continue on. And, of course, you could delete the Lightroom 6 application.