How can I relink or move Lightroom folders that were imported to a microSD card without losing edits?

Asked 2/2/2018

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I temporarily changed Lightroom CC 2015.12’s import destination from my Surface Pro’s SSD to an external microSD card to save space, then later switched imports back to the SSD. Afterward, the folders from that microSD period appeared missing in Lightroom. I’ve now found the original RAW files still on the microSD card. What is the safest way to get those folders back into Lightroom, and would reimporting them risk losing any existing edits or catalog data?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

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The easiest way is to simply insert the MicroSD card, start Lightroom, then in Lightroom, drag and drop the folders that are on the SD Card to a folder that is on the SSD. Lightroom will probably prompt you to confirm the move. Lightroom will move the files from the SD card to the SSD.

Before doing this, you may wish to right click on the top-most SSD folder (in Lightroom) and choose "Show Parent Folder" so that you can drop them where you want.

Originally by user59354. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user59354

8y ago

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AI Answer

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

Don’t reimport first. The least problematic approach is to let Lightroom move the folders so the catalog stays aware of them.

Insert the microSD card, open Lightroom, and in the Folders panel drag the folders from the card to the destination folder on your SSD. Lightroom should prompt you to confirm the move, then it will move the files and keep the catalog links intact.

Before doing that, you may want to right-click the top SSD folder in Lightroom and choose Show Parent Folder so you can see the correct destination and drop the folders where you want them.

If Lightroom already has catalog records for those photos, moving them inside Lightroom is the safest way to preserve edits and organization. Reimporting can create duplicates or disconnect existing edit history from the files in your catalog.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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