How do I move Lightroom’s catalog and previews off my C: drive?
Asked 6/15/2012
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2 answers
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Lightroom was installed with default settings, and it appears to be storing my catalog/previews on my small C: SSD. This fills up over time. I can manually move things, but I can’t find a Lightroom setting to change the default save location for these files to an external drive.
How can I move Lightroom’s catalog and preview data to an external drive, and will Lightroom then use that new location automatically?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
1
Lightroom always stores the catalog and preview images in the same location. The simplest solution is to move your catalog file and the previews folder to your external drive. Moving the files is done by using your OS file copying mechanism (make sure you copy both the .lrcat file and Preview.lrdata folder) and then opening the catalog in the new location within Lightroom.
The downside of moving these to an external drive is the delay you can potentially experience when viewing the next/previous image, which could be particularly noticeable if your external drive is not an SSD. If this becomes a problem you could try reducing the size of the rendered previews (in Catalog Settings > File Handling) and setting 'Discard 1:1 previews' to 'after 1 day' or setting up multiple catalogs, one for new/editing required photos which is stored on your SSD, and another for all other images that is stored on your external drive.
Originally by user9646. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user9646
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Lightroom stores the catalog and preview cache together in the catalog’s location. There isn’t a separate setting to redirect “draft edits” to another drive.
To move them:
- Close Lightroom.
- Use your OS file manager to move/copy both the catalog file (.lrcat) and its previews folder (.lrdata / Previews.lrdata) to the external drive.
- Open Lightroom by opening the catalog from its new location.
Once you open that catalog from the external drive, Lightroom will continue using it there.
Keep in mind that putting the catalog/previews on a slower external drive can make browsing images feel less responsive, especially when moving between photos. If that happens, you can reduce preview size in Catalog Settings > File Handling and/or set 1:1 previews to be discarded sooner. Another option is using multiple catalogs to limit catalog size.
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