How to edit synced photos in Lightroom Classic CC with drive offline?

[chicomorais]

Hello everyone.

I'm creating this discussion because I couldn't find an answer for that anywhere else.

My problem is that I want to be able to edit my photos in my notebook anywhere I take it, without having to carry my big and fragile external hard drive where my pictures are stored.

I've already synced some of my collections and I'm able to edit my pics from anywhere using the Lightroom CC on my computer or the mobile version in my phone. But when I try to edit using Lightroom Classic CC, even though the pictures are synced, it says the files are missing and I'm only able to make any adjustment if I plug my hard drive in.

So I need to know how to edit synced photos in Lightroom Classic CC with my external hard drive (the one my pictures are stored) offline.

I would really appreciate if anyone could held me with that,

Thanks!

[JohanElzenga · Accepted solution]

That's what smart previews are for. With the hard drive online, select the photos you want to edit and choose 'Library > Previews > Build Smart Previews'. Now you can edit these photos with the hard drive offline.

[Just Shoot Me]

The smart previews have to be stored on the computer you want to work on. The folder location for smart previews is in the same top level folder your catalog is in and is named Catalog Name Smart Previews.lrdata.

If you have that folder on your desktop and it contains smart preview for the image files you want to work on on your notebook then you can Copy that complete folder over to your notebook.

[chicomorais]

That totally solved my problem and it was so simple!

Thanks a lot, JohanEl54!!