Running LR and Apple Photos on the same computer

[utahangler]

Can I use Lightroom and Apple Photos on the same computer?

Is it possible to download Lightroom onto my computer and try using it for new photographs, without affecting all of my old photographs that are stored in an Apple Photos library?  I would like to keep the old photographs where they are and access them through Apple's Photos software.  Does having both Lightroom and Photos on the same computer make things less stable and increase the risk of losing images?

Thank you.

[Mohit Goyal]

Hi utahangler,

Yes, you can keep both software on the same machine. Installing Lightroom will not effect anything to Apple Photos app.

Lightroom doesn't store any images within the software, it only will capture the smart previews of the images which you edit in develop module.

Thanks,

Mohit

[Geoff the kiwi · Accepted solution]

Hello, yes as mentioned above there would be no problems especially for the workflow you mention.

Just install Lightroom and moving forward import new photos into Lightroom. The Lightroom Catalog/database will only contain (just like Photos does) files you allow it to import.

You may find that Photos is set to open automatically when you camera card is detected - turn this off in Photos by unchecking the box shown in the screen shot.

Enjoy!!