Prevent saving of keyword hierarchy

[SteveIsHere]

(FYI, in Lightroom, I have "Edit > Catalog Settings > Metadata (tab) > Automatically write changes to XMP" selected so keywords are immediately saved to the file. I'm running Windows 10.)

If I select a specific jpg file in the Windows File Explorer and look at the Tag field, I see see "Joe Blow" in the Details pane. Good.

In Lightroom, I select the same file and look in the Keywording pane and again see the same words "Joe Blow". The Keywords Tags selection at the top of the pane is set to "Enter Keywords".

If I toggle the setting at the top of the pane to "Keywords & Containing Keywords" I see the words "Joe Blow, People". That's how my hierarchy is setup (i.e., Joe Blow is a descendant of People). I toggle back to "Enter Keywords".

If I now press Ctrl+S to save the file (which updates the metadata) and again look at it in the Windows File Explorer, it is now "Joe Blow; People". (This happens if I never toggled to "Keywords & Containing Keywords", too.)

Can I continue to use hierarchies (as I have with the software I've been using to manage my keywords, "ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2018")  yet not have Lightroom store the keyword's ancestors?

Thanks!

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

In the Keyword List panel, double-click "Joe Blow" and uncheck the option Export Containing Keywords. Then select all the photos with "Joe Blow" and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File.

Unfortunately, you'll have to edit each child keyword to change its Export Containing Keywords option.  There is no batch edit feature for keywords.

You might think that simply unchecking that option for "People" would do the same thing.  Unfortunately not -- it's just one of LR's many rough edges.