Lightroom main computer transition?

[missiondental]

Hi,

I have been using a Mac desktop as my main Lightroom computer - it's where I upload the files from my DSLR straight into Lightroom. However, I would like to transition away from this desktop as it is too slow!

1) What do I need to do in order to make another computer my default for Lightroom? Does a "default" even matter? I guess I'm thinking in terms of where the original files go.

2) Do I just save the raw files from the desktop to a hard drive, and then remove the computer as one of my two available licenses? And then start fresh on my new laptop?

Thank you.

[dj_paige · Accepted solution]

It would help if you stated the exact version NUMBER of your Lightroom. We need the NUMBER and not words like "latest" or "up-to-date".

To move Lightroom and catalog and photos to a new computer, please read: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

You can have Lightroom installed and activated on two computers at any one time, so to make another computer the "default", you flip the switch in your mind, and voila! It's now the default computer. If you're noever going to use Lightroom again on a certain computer, then you could de-activate it  by signing out of the Adobe Creative Cloud application on your computer (but not if you have Lightroom 5 or earlier)

[cmgap]

Hi JW,

Victoria Bampton has written a thorough article on this very topic which you can find here: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-move-lightroom-to-new-computer/

Hope this is helpful in getting you on your way with your new laptop.