Already migrated catalog to CC - can I get my folders back?

[gregoryw17089413]

I've already migrated my LR catalog to CC.  I realize now that it doesn't migrate the folder structure, only albums (I didn't really use many albums since I largely relied on the folder structure).  Is there any way to recapture my folder structure? 

I've read that I could have dragged the folders into albums BEFORE I did the migration, and then they would have transferred over, but I already migrated.

What can I do about this?  It seems like a lot of people are having this issue.  Is there any way I can get my folders back?  Or can I "unmigrate" and delete everything in the cloud and then open the old catalog in classic LR and drag the folders into albums and then re-migrate?

Thanks.

[99jon]

Lr CC does not use a folder structure. You can create folders within the app itself e.g. as a container for a number of albums, which is really like a collection set in Lr Classic.

I don’t believe, at present, that the migration can be run again.

[gregoryw17089413]

Thanks.  This is incredibly frustrating.  The migration process should have made this clear.

Is there any way I can create folders in Lightroom Classic and have that sync to the CC version?  I have 60,000 pictures and hundreds of folders and subfolders - it will take forever go to manually figure out which pictures go in which folders and then re-create all of those as albums.

There's really no way to delete everything in CC, and go back to my LR Catalog and do the albums in there while I can still see the folder structure and then do the migration again?

[geom321]

I have the same issue with exception to 135,000 photos that are no longer organized in the folders I had. 

EXTREMELY frustrated, dont know what to do!

[john beardsworth]

Adobe chose not to migrate collection sets or to sync them from "Classic" in any way. All you can do is recreate the "folder" structure in LRCC.

LRCC's migration seems to mark the "Classic" catalogue so that it can no longer sync. LRCC isn't for me, so I have not tested migration or recovering from its impact, but if you want to return to "Classic" and its much-stronger organisational features, I think you would need to create a brand new - empty - catalogue in "Classic". You then use File > Import from Another Catalog to bring your old catalogue into it, and this would include folders, collections, collection sets, hierarchical keywords, colour labels and all the other stuff. I think you should then be able to enable sync again. There might be some duplication of any originals which LRCC has uploaded, so take care, backup your originals and do extra backups of "Classic" catalogues at each stage.

John

[rsph1708]

Yes, you can. You need to create Collection Sets that contain collections which will import to LrCC as Folders which contain Albums. A little bit of work but easily done in Classic before migration. You can create Collection sets within Collection sets which contain Collections which translate as Folders within Folders containing Albums.

[gregoryw17089413]

Right, but I’ve already migrated.

[rsph1708]

You can export your Classic catalog to a new one and migrate it again. You can also rename your catalog with a different name for LrCC

to let you migrate again. Just make sure that you rename the library file, previews files correctly. This avoids duplicating your library just to re migrate it. Before migrating your new catalog delete all the previous photos from the cloud in LrCC.

[selondon]

You can delete a Catalog in Lr Web (Make sure you have your Photos safe elsewhere!).

Not really a Classic user so don’t know if you duplicate your Catalog and call it a different name or create a new one and import the original, the make the Collection.

Still don’t know whether it would migrate.

[LakesWaddo]

So, I created collections to mimic my folders in Lightroom Classic (as per the migrating instructions).

"NOTE:

Collections of your photos in Lightroom Classic CC automatically become albums in Lightroom CC."

The migration is currently underway and I can see the photos appearing in Lightroom CC BUT, no albums seem to have been created to correspond to the collections in Lightroom Classic.

Can anyone please tell me whether the albums are created at the end of the migration (when all the photos are imported) or did they start showing during the import process? I'm just wondering whether the migrate has already "gone-to-pot" or whether I should let it continue with the migration and the albums will show at the end !?

[99jon]

It may happen after all the image files have been copied. I can’t remember but it did work for me. I ended up with one overall folder containing all the migrated files and separate albums for each collection. I think you have to be patient and just let it run.

[LakesWaddo]

Fab, thank you!!

[LakesWaddo]

Just to confirm that the Albums did appear, right at the end of the migrate process. All is well!