How to change or move local storage to a different drive?

[pieterv66384721]

I have a dedicated SSD (D:) that I used to use for my LR Classic catalog and full size previews.

Since moving to LR CC, it insists on using my C: drive, leaving my SSD D: drive unused, and it runs my my C: drive low on space.

How do I change the drive that is used for local storage from C: to D:?

[Jarek Foryster]

Really?
"once you have edited them then delete the photo from Lightroom itself. "
The idea of LR is to have everyphoto in place. Including labels, starts, folders. With the ability to share pics with others etc. Removing them photos from LR makes this software almost useless.

[GreyNomad]

As stated, there is no way to do this in the Lightroom settings. However, it is possible to set up symbolic link to redirect Lightroom's directory to another location. I found the solution here:

https://techgenix.com/folder-redirections-in-windows/

I recommend reading this page before trying this so you understand how it works!

Here's what I did.

1. I created a new folder on my D: drive:  D:\Lightroom\Appdata\Local

2. I navigated to Lightroom's directory, which on Windows is:

C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data

3. I copied the contents of the Lightroom directory to my new folder on the D: drive

4. I renamed the Lightroom directory from ...\Data to ...\Data.Save

5. I opened an "elevated" (run as admin) command prompt and entered this command:

mklink /J "C:\Users\greyn\AppData\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data" "D:\Lightroom\Appdata\Local"

Now Lightroom thinks I have a very large C: drive.

The MacOS equivalent of mklink is ln, but I don't know how it's used. Maybe a Mac user can add the procedured here.

[ethan.gsh]

You can reduce the size of "Lightroom Catalog Previews" which normally takes a lot space on your local drive. Change the location of your Camera Raw Cache to your external drive (go to Preferences > Performance > Camera Raw Cache Settings). Then build standard previews for all your photos (Library > Previews > Build Standard-Sized Previews).

[Jim Wilde]

You can reduce the size of "Lightroom Catalog Previews" which normally takes a lot space on your local drive. Change the location of your Camera Raw Cache to your external drive (go to Preferences > Performance > Camera Raw Cache Settings). Then build standard previews for all your photos (Library > Previews > Build Standard-Sized Previews).

This thread is about the cloud-centric Lightroom app, your instructions are for the Lightroom Classic app which works in a different way.

[Kyle22103805kagg]

As mentioned on here by others, LR CC doesn't allow you via settings to change where the "previews" folder is (aren't able to set it to a non C drive). I did find a workaround by setting up a symlink (called a directory junction by windows). A symlink (short for symbolic link) is like a shortcut for files and folders. Basically you create a "previews" folder on a different drive, delete your "previews" folder on your C:\ drive then you you create the symlink via the windows command prompt (have to run in administative mode).

Detailed Instructions:

1) Delete your current "previews" folder. Should be located in similar type path:

C:\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data\e96316ca204f4c848aac8ac9a0f7955a\previews

2) Create a new "previews" folder in your non C: drive. Here's where I created mine:

E:\Program Files\Adobe Lightroom CC\previews

3) Open a command prompt in admin mode. In windows 10, the easest way is to search for CMD in the search bar, right click and run as Administrator

4) Run this command (updating the pathnames to match where your "previews" folders were/are stored:

mklink /J "C:\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data\e96316ca204f4c848aac8ac9a0f7955a\previews" "E:\Program Files\Adobe Lightroom CC\previews"

You should see a "Junction created" message in the command window. You should also see in your app data folder on your C: a "previews" folder show up with a small arrow to show it's a junction. Now Lightroom will rebuild your previews and store them on the othe r drive.

[Steve25228795ucz1]

This worked perfectly thanks @Kyle22103805kagg 

[matteo38249742ayyl]

Hey there, 
Just had the same problem trying to upload new pictures to Lightroom.
You can change it pretty easyily now. Just go to the tab "Edit" --> Then click on to the Default settings button on the bottom. Then a Window opens up an there you can change the location of where it safes the pictures.

[jonathanh88934573]

Seems to work perfectly. I just reassigned my data (originals) to a larger external D: drive (4TB). The other matter remains on my C: drive. This has allowed me to save precious space on my small internal SSD (512GB).