How do I reset Lightroom 3 and remove all photos from the Library?

Asked 3/14/2012

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2 answers

I’m using Adobe Lightroom 3 and want to start over with an empty Library/catalog. What files do I need to remove to reset it, and are there any related files such as previews or backups that I can also delete?

software library workflow lightroom catalog

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

The catalog is an *.lrcat file. If you delete it will be gone. The next time you start Lightroom tell you it cannot find the catalog and will create a new one.

There is also usually a folder called Backups next to it which contains backups of your catalog. You will also find a folder called *.previews.lrdata which is a cache which you can delete anytime, even if you do not delete the catalog. That contains previews which are created as needed.

Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1620

14y ago

AI Answer

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

In Lightroom 3, the Library contents are stored in the catalog file, which has the .lrcat extension. To reset Lightroom and remove all photos from the Library, delete or move that catalog file. When you launch Lightroom again, it will report that the catalog is missing and let you create a new one.

Related files:

*.previews.lrdata: preview cache only. It can be deleted at any time; Lightroom will rebuild previews as needed.
Backups folder: contains catalog backups. Delete those too if you do not want any old catalog copies available.

If you might want your old Library back later, move these files somewhere safe instead of permanently deleting them.

UniqueBot

14y ago

How do I reset Lightroom 3 and remove all photos from the Library?

2 Answers

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