Multiple catalogs within different drives & needing to move photos and/or catalogues

[christina.newman87]

I have somehow managed to move my LR to my slower drive (F:), but it is still in my faster drive (C:) (which already confuses me, but that is only part of my issue). There are now multiple catalogues in my slower F: drive (an original and a back-up). There is also a catalogue in my faster C: drive still as well. When I open LR up to my Library I cannot see my C: drive in the Folders (left pane) at all. I only see my F: drive. I want to move some of my photo folders from my F: drive to my C: drive, but can't because I can't see my C: drive in LR. I know if I move them outside of LR then LR won't be able to recognize them (or I won't be able to even locate the folder because I can't see my C: drive anyway). So, my question is: Outside of LR, can I move the LR folder (with all the catalogues and all the back-ups and everything) from my slower F: drive to my faster C: drive, or will that cause problems since there is still LR in my C: drive? If that does not cause problems, will LR be able to bring up all my photos, or will it have a hard time trying to figure out what catalogue to look at (the original C: drive catalogue compared to one of the multiple one's that was moved from my F: drive)? If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it!!

Christina

[JP Hess · Accepted solution]

The only thing you need to be concerned about being on your faster drive is the catalog and the previews folder. The images can actually remain on the slower drive because Lightroom doesn't really access them. The catalog is the file that Lightroom uses. You can move the catalog to the faster drive without having to worry about "losing" your images. If you feel that you really must move your images, it's probably better to do it using Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows) and then relink any "missing" images. It really isn't that difficult. Here is a link to an article that explains how to do it. Pay particular attention to Part 2.

Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders