Stop Lightroom from caching imports

Question

When I open some ARW files in Lightroom, which are already on my computer hard drive, Lightroom makes a weird cache folder of its own and stores copies, then uses these copies for my edits instead of my original ARW files. If I try to delete Adobe's weird cache, the pictures show as corrupted or missing in Lightroom, even though they exist on my hard drive in the location I originally opened them from. 
 
All the boxes in Settings > Local Storage are unchecked. So it should not be "storing a copy of smart previews" or "storing a copy of all originals." I'm able to change the weird cache location path in Settings > Local Storage. But can't stop Adobe from making copies of my files and using those for edits instead of the originals. I just need to edit the file in its original location, not move it into arcane code-named folders. 
 
Technical details: MacBook Pro 2019 running Catalina. Lightroom is up to date (5.1). I have cloud sync turned off / paused since I don't need Adobe's cloud storage, I have tons of my own.

Theresa J · Accepted Answer

This is how Lightroom works. You can't change it.

When you add your ARW files to Lightroom they are uploaded to a Lightroom cloud server. The master image is in the cloud, not on your computer. There is no connection between Lightroom and the original image you uploaded from your hard drive. When you turn on "store local copy" it creates a new copy of the image. The copy is synced to the cloud and allows you to work on the image if you are offline. If you delete the image from Lightroom, the local copy is also deleted.

If you don't want your photos in the cloud, you should use Lightroom Classic instead.

JohanElzenga · Answer

Even if you uncheck the option to store a local copy, Lightroom will temporarily do so. The reason is that importing would become far too slow if Lightroom would directly import to the cloud. And if would become impossible to import images if you didn't have an internet connection (which may occur if you are on the road with a laptop). So do not delete the cached images. If you want to delete images to clear up space, then delete the originals after they have been imported.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded