Moving lightroom to another computer?

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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Name
Dave
Edit My Images
Yes
I have now got my new computer up and running, have lightroom installed and all my picture files copied over.

But i can't work out how to get lightroom to recognise them in the catalog.

Do i have to re-import every folder?

How do i get lightroom to keep the previous develop settings?
 
If the files are in the same location e.g an external HD you should be able to just reload the catalog.

If the image files have been copied to a new HD the paths will not be the same and I dont think it'll work in which case you might have to re-import.
 
Once you open your saved catalogue you need to right click on a top level folder and 'update folder location' or whatever the right click menu option is. All the folders under the one you locate should get found automatically. Or is this a different problem?
 
Make sure you copy your library over as well. This contains the thumbnails plus the edits and all the other data. If you've co[pied it to the same location and the name is the default Lightroom name it should pick up the old library when Lightroom launches. If not start Lightroom holding down the alt/option key and it'll ask for the location of the catalogue you want to use. Simply select your old catalogue and you're away.

As Robert has said once launched, right click on the root folder and select "Update folder Location" it's second from the bottom I think. Lightroom will then update it's database.

Might be worth going through the the folders just to make sure that it's updated correctly.
 
All my photos when using lightroom on the old computer were saved to my external hard drive, i did this thinking it might make things easier when it came to moving over to the new computer.

I didn't import all of my photos into one folder, i made sub folders for each import and then exports went to another folder within.
Have i just made life difficult for myself?
 
Well half the problem is me not knowing what i should be doing in the first place. There is an ongoing battle between me and technology. :lol:

I think i'll just ditch the old photos and start a fresh with the new machine, seems like the easy option.
 
What version of lightroom are you using?

If you click on "File" > "Open Recent" it will show you the location of your catalogue. You will need to copy the folder that contains the catalogue files to the new location.

You then need to copy all the folders that contain your photos to the new location. Then open up lightroom and right click on the top most folder. Depending on the lightroom version, there should be an option for "Update File Location" or "Locate Missing Folder". One of these option should allow you to point lightroom to the new location of the photos.
 
If you have you photo's on an external drive and want to keep them there then it isn't a problem. Just copy the Library as I suggested earlier. Starting Lightroom using the existing catalogue should make it look at the external drive for your photo's. If for some reason it can't find them ( drive ID is different.for example) Just click on the root folder and select the update folder location. I've done this several times without any problems.
 
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