Lightroom slows my computer

[iwannerdance]

I'm an hobby photographer who has enjoyed learning and using Creative Cloud (especially Lightroom). But I've had one dealbreaker struggle with it: It really slows down my computer. Like, it takes almost an hour for it to do anything when I wake it up. I'm using an iMac desktop from 2015, running iOS, latest version. I update and install software updates as soon as they're available. I've spoken with Adobe about this and they just tell me to update CC, which I do regularly, but even getting the computer to function so that I can update LR takes forever because it's just so painfully slow.

I'm pretty sure CC is the culprit because I've uninstalled it and the computer works fine. Then I reinstalled it and had the same issues. I've reached the point where I've uninstalled LR, cancelled my CC subscription and have been looking for alternatives, but nothing comes close to the features that CC offers. It's such a great program, but I just can't imagine continuing to pay for something that causes so much frustration. Am I alone here? Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks!

[Akash Sharma · Accepted solution]

Hi iwannerdance,

Sorry that Lightroom is slowing down your computer while using the application. That isn't a great user experience, let us help make it right.

Could you please let us know the version of Lightroom you had installed on your computer?

Please uncheck the option "use graphics processor" under the Preferences> Performance menu in Photoshop and see it the issue persists.

I'd recommend that you check out this article to troubleshoot the GPU in Photoshop: Troubleshoot Photoshop graphics processor (GPU) and graphics driver issues

On top of that, I would suggest that you check out this help article to optimize the app's performance: Optimize Lightroom performance

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Akash

[iwannerdance]

Hi Akash, I was using the Lightroom Desktop application as part of the Creative Cloud monthly subscription. I currently do not have a CC subscription anymore, however I may try to re-download and install and use some of your tips. If these issues are related to updates as Adobe has suggested to me in the past, would it be better to make sure updates auto-install, or does that create more background processing that can slow the computer down?

Thanks for your input.

LE

[JP Hess]

If you don't currently have a subscription, I question whether you will receive any updates or upgrades. What exact version of Lightroom do you have installed?

[iwannerdance]

I don't currently have a subscription because I deleted mine out of frustration. However the above posts describe problems I was encountering as an active subscriber of Creative Cloud monthly subscription and I was using Lightroom CC for desktop and mobile. I might have also been using Lightroom Classic, but I was using the synced mobile collections feature, which I didn't think Lightroom Classic offers.

[JP Hess]

Lightroom Classic DOES include the feature to share collections. In fact, that is the only way to share images with Lightroom CC from Lightroom Classic. I'm using Lightroom Classic on Windows 10, and I don't experience the problems or frustration that you describe. I updated to 8.3 just this morning, and haven't encountered any problems or any slowdowns whatsoever. Please describe your problems more specifically. Have you tried disabling the graphics processor in the Lightroom preferences to see if that helps?

[iwannerdance]

Thanks for your input. I am going to try to use some of the tips pointed out by Akash Sharma above. This is the first I have heard about graphics processor troubleshooting or other LR optimization techniques. Again I’m not a professional so thanks in advance for your patience.  If I’m still having issues I’ll start a new thread.

Cheers

LE

[Akash Sharma]

Sure, let us know how it goes.

~Akash