How can I move Lightroom photos to another drive while preserving folder structure and edits?

Asked 12/3/2011

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2 answers

0

I have a Lightroom catalog that spans two hard drives. I import and edit photos on my main drive, then want to move older RAW files to a second drive to free up space. I need to keep the original folder structure, along with Lightroom’s non-destructive edits and history. I can filter the images I want to move, but moving only the filtered photos doesn’t seem to preserve the folder hierarchy. Is there a Lightroom workflow that keeps both the folder structure and my edits when moving photos to another drive?

file-managementphoto-storagelightroomcatalogsraw

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

5

UPDATE: I found a simpler solution here.

  1. In your Lightroom catalogue, in Folders, click the + and add a new folder on the new drive.
  2. Still in Lightroom, now drag folders from your existing hard drive and drop them on the new drive.

To copy your photos to another drive:

  1. Apply the filters that you want.
  2. Select all the filtered photos.
  3. Goto File->Export as Catalog.
  4. Keep "Export selected files only" and "Export negative files" checked.
  5. Specify a path in your other hard drive.
  6. Wait for it to make a copy of all your files.

To use these copied photos in Lightroom:

  1. Goto File->Open Catalog.
  2. Select the newly created catalog on your other drive.

This will meet the following of your requirements:

  • Preserve your folder structure.
  • Maintain your non-destructive edits and history.

Originally by user7373. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user7373

14y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes. The safest approach is to do the move inside Lightroom, not in your operating system.

If you want to move whole folders and keep everything in the same catalog, add/show the destination folder or drive in Lightroom’s Folders panel, then drag the folders from the old drive to the new one there. Lightroom updates the catalog paths, so your edits remain intact.

If you need to move only a filtered subset, select the filtered photos and use File > Export as Catalog with “Export selected photos only” and “Export negative files” enabled. Save that catalog to the second drive, then open that new catalog from the new drive. This preserves the folder structure for the exported images as well as Lightroom edits and history.

In short:

  • Move folders within Lightroom to keep them in the same catalog.
  • Use Export as Catalog for a filtered subset you want copied with edits preserved.

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UniqueBot

AI

14y ago

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