How to move photos/edits from Lightroom CC into Lightroom Classic?

[dianabondurant]

I had been a lightroom user for years, and about 2 years ago I decided to fully commit and switch to Lightroom CC. I've since realized that Lightroom Classic fits my needs much better and have just upgraded my CC subscription to include Classic. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get my catalog (photos/edits) from CC to Classic. I have almost 500GB worth of photos in CC, but they are also locally stored on my computer. I'd rather not try to download all of them again, since they're already locally stored on my computer. I know how to get the raw files into Classic, but I can't figure out how to get all my edits into classic. It appears CC stores such things in a different format than CC and buries them away in a hidden package. I know how to find them via the finder, but I don't know how to tell Classic to find them. Please help!!

[Todd Shaner]

Try following the instructions at the below article. I'm guesing you fall into Scenario 1, which should be a straightforward sync process.

https://lightroomkillertips.com/migrate-from-the-cloud-based-lightroom-to-lightroom-classic/

[dianabondurant]

Thanks so much for the help! I actually read that article before posting here, and that still leaves me with having to download from the cloud photos that I already have stored locally...almost 500GB worth. I don't think it's going to be possible, which is incredibly frustrating. I spent a good deal of time with adobe customer support this afternoon, to no avail. Not sure I was working with the sharpest tool in the shed...I never could get a clear answer as to whether it was even possible to import from my locally stored files AND somehow retrieve/import my edits from CC.

[Todd Shaner]

You could use Export> Original + Settings in LR Desktop, which will copy your locally stored originals to a new folder location with XMP tags and develop settings. You will lose the album structure, but you could add a unique keyword in LR Desktop to the photos in each album, filter on that keyword in LrC, and then add them to new collections. Just thinking out loud here, but you could try it on a few albums as a test and see if that workflow makes sense. Adobe clearly isn't providing an easy way to migrate form LR Cloud back to LR Classic, but this should work.