Creative Cloud Files Storage - where are my images

[Neilmcalester]

I've just logged on to the Creative cloud for the first time although I have been using Lightroom for years. I have used 22GB of my 1TB allowance but I can't find any images, there are only a few video files showing. Where are my 22GB of images hiding?

[DdeGannes]

There are two Lightroom desktop applications at present.

LrC Classic and Lr (cloud-based), which application are you using please indicate the actual version number.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-cc-vs-classic-features/

[Neilmcalester]

Hi, Sorry, I didn't realise that the version of lightroom affected the cloud storage.

I'm using Lightroom Classic version 10.2 on Windows 10 Pro, AMD Ryzen 7, RTX2070

[DdeGannes]

Your original files should be on your computer.

[Neilmcalester]

Yesssss, they are. So what is taking up the 22GB in the creative cloud? I thought that the images were mirrored there.

[Conrad C]

Since you mentioned Creative Cloud Files storage in the title, it’s important to note that no version of Lightroom stores photos in Creative Cloud Files storage (unless you intentionally export photos there). Adobe provides multiple types of Creative Cloud storage* to serve various applications, but Lightroom cloud sync specifically stores photos in Lightroom Photos storage, which is a different, distinct area of Adobe cloud servers and unconnected to Creative Cloud Files.

That is just the beginning of a rather confusing set of “if”s and “but”s that go into understanding how much Creative Cloud space is used up. First:

• Lightroom Classic syncs nothing to the cloud by default, because master storage of your originals is on your local computer. You can enable specific Collections to sync to Lightroom Photos in the cloud, but Classic syncs only Smart Previews (maximum 2560 pixels on the long side), which do not count against your storage limit.
• Lightroom (cloud, not Classic) uploads everything to the cloud by default, because master storage of your originals is in the cloud, and those would count against your storage limit.

That‘s the first conclusion: If you use only Lightroom Classic and not Lightroom, the 22GB of storage is probably not because of Lightroom Classic, because Classic only cloud-syncs Smart Previews that don’t count against your limit.

Next, to find the 22GB of files, look at what actually is taking up space in the other Creative Cloud services.* You can do this by looking under Your Work on the web at assets.adobe.com when signed in, or in the Your Work section of the Creative Cloud app for desktop or mobile.

*Adobe cloud servers can include Creative Cloud Files, Creative Cloud Libraries, Cloud Documents (for Photoshop, Illustrator, XD…), and storage for services such as Adobe Portfolio and Spark, each of which stores different kinds of content and can count against your storage limit. There are even more like Adobe Document Cloud, but those are outside of Creative Cloud.

[Jao vdL]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that Lightroom (including Classic) cloud assets are stored in a hidden area in your creative cloud account. You can't see it on the  creative cloud drive in any easy way. The only way to see what is actually stored there is to use Lightroom Desktop, Lightroom on a mobile OS or to point a browser to https://lightroom.adobe.com.

While it is true what was mentioned that images synced from Lightroom Classic are uploaded as low resolution smart previews and don't take up any space, there is some overhead associated with them and with the cloud library and previews that does count.