Reduce size of Originals folder for travelling

[Velile Sipho]

I have over 5TB of Originals in LR CC.  I want to reduce the size for travelling purposes by deleting approx 2TB of the older Originals.  I plan to store these originals in an identical copy of the folder tree on another drive.  When I return, I will copy back to the original LR CC folder tree drive the new daily directories which have been created during my travels.  I will also return the deleted files to that same directory.  Then I will redefine the old drive as the destination for Originals.  When I restart LR it should find the complete tree and not consider any originals to be missing.

My Question:  will this work?  What problems might I encounter? Does the XML file with the edits get lost or LR get corrupted?  I am nervous about experimenting.  Appreciate any help.

[F. McLion]

You have local copies only of the originals, right?

If you work with Lightroom (not Lightroom Classic), then all your photos are always in the cloud. The local copies are not actively needed, though can speed up work and work w/o internet access.

Let me know if I got you wrong.

[Velile Sipho]

Thanks for the answer. I think that this is the correct approach. I will
simply disconnect my MacBook from the external drive containing the
Originals. I will secure the originals separately on a traveling drive, but
only sync to the Originals directory once I return. --
Regards
Tom Schuster
Past is prologue

[F. McLion]

You are still writing about originals on the drive.

Please clarify whether you use Lightroom or Lightroom Classic.

[JohanElzenga]

You have 5TB of local original images? That, and what you ask us, sounds like you are probably using Lightroom Classic (or its predecessor). 'Lightroom CC' is an old name that was abandoned years ago. If you are indeed using Lightroom Classic, then what you want to do will work, but is unnecessarily complicated. Lightroom Classic can store originals on any drive you like, also on multiple drives. So just move the old images to the other drive and let Lightroom Classic manage them there. No need to move them back after you've returned from your trip.

If you are using Lightroom (cloud) after all, then just delete those originals. They are not needed. I doubt that removing them and putting them back on return will work.