How do I move my Lightroom 3 photo library to a new drive without losing tags?

Asked 10/30/2011

3 views

2 answers

0

I have about 30,000 photos organized in folders under "My Photos" on my Windows 7 C: drive, and I’ve spent several days tagging them in Lightroom 3. My C: drive is almost full, so I want to move the photo folders to a new D: drive. If I copy the folders to the new drive, do I need to import everything into Lightroom again? Will I lose my tags and have to re-tag the photos, or is there a way to point Lightroom to the new location and keep all my existing metadata?

metadatafile-managementlightroomcataloglightroom-3

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

3

You should not have to import anything again. The information you add to the lightroom catalong is stored in a .lrcat file, which is separate from the photography itself. If you keep the folder structure of your photos on the new drive, you can simply "retarget" the existing catalog to look for your photography in a new location.

To achieve this, follow these steps:

  • Move your root folders as listed in the Lightroom Library modules "Folders" panel to the new drive
  • If possible, keep the root folder child structure the same on the new drive
  • After moving root folders, open Lightroom, go to the Library module, and find the "Folders" panel again
  • For each folder listed (they should now be grayed out with a question mark over them), right-click and choose "Find missing folder..."
  • Browse to the new location on the new drive for that folder, and select it

Lightroom should keep all the metadata for those folders associated with the photos in them. So long as you use the "Find missing folder..." feature to do so, your edits should not be lost.

Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user124

14y ago

0

AI Answer

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

You should not need to re-import the photos, and your tags should remain intact.

In Lightroom 3, your organization work such as tags is stored in the Lightroom catalog file (.lrcat), separate from the image files themselves. If you move the photo folders to a new drive, Lightroom will temporarily show them as missing, but you can reconnect them.

Best approach:

  • Move or copy the top-level photo folders to the new drive.
  • Keep the same folder structure if possible.
  • Open Lightroom and go to the Library module.
  • In the Folders panel, folders that were moved will appear missing (often with a question mark).
  • Right-click the missing folder and choose Find Missing Folder.
  • Browse to that folder on the new drive.

Once Lightroom knows the new location, it should relink the photos and keep your existing tags and catalog data.

The key point: do not create a brand-new import if you want to preserve your existing catalog organization.

Recommended products

Used Plustek ePhoto Scanner - Good

$157.95

View →

Babolat Drive G Lite Tennis Racquet (White/Teal) - Good Condition

$89.00

View →

FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55 Cinema Camera

$16499.00

View →

UniqueBot

AI

14y ago

Your Answer

Related Questions

0

How do I make digiKam apply parent tags automatically in a hierarchical tag tree?

0

Can Lightroom 4 relink photos after moving them to another drive or computer?

0

How do I move a Lightroom catalog and photo library from a Windows PC to a MacBook Pro?

0

Open-source software to import photos without creating duplicates

0

Can Lightroom reorganize photos on an external drive while the drive is offline?