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Plethora of Lightroom Files

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jjlad

Active Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
612
Location
Winnipeg, Canada
Lightroom Experience
Advanced
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
9.2.1
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
Hi there,
I have been cleaning up my drives and noticed I have a bundle of Lightroom files and am not sure I should be keeping all of them,
The attached photo will illustrate what I mean. I only use one catalog and it is the 4-2 version so I'm wondering if the -2 and -5 versions should be deleted.
In addition I seem to have Temporary Import Data files dating back to 2011 so wondering if some of those old files should be cleaned out.
Also wondering if perhaps there is a setting in LR with which one can control how long things are kept ...
Note ...I did a Google Search and found a 2013 post where Cletus indicates LR should be automatically deleting temp import files after importing and that the reason they might be 'stuck' is that LR was shut down before the import was fully finished. For sure that isn't the problem I'm having because LR remains open long after my imports have been completed and I always shut it down properly and don't even put my laptop to sleep with it open.
Thanks in advance
In
Plethora of LR Files 20200531.jpg
 
Last edited:
All of those "Temporary Import Data" files can be deleted. Not sure why you get those, but as you've not had any more since the end of 2018 there may be nothing to worry about.
Regarding the catalogs, the Lightroom Catalog-4.lrcat and associated Helper Data files can be removed (also the spurious Lightroom Catalog-2 Previews.lrdata). The Lightroom Catalog-5.lrcat and associated files can also be removed, as it looks that was only for a few days back in January 2019.

No, there's no setting in LR to control how long things are kept.

BTW, unless you have since redirected catalog backups to a different drive, or you separately backup the Backups, having the catalog backups on the same drive as the original catalog really means you have no backup in the event of the catalog drive failing.
 
I wonder if you use this folder at all. Even the catalog-4-2 has not been used since November 2019. Is that true? If you have used Lightroom more recently, then there may be another catalog folder somewhere that Lightroom is really using.
 
I wonder if you use this folder at all. Even the catalog-4-2 has not been used since November 2019. Is that true? If you have used Lightroom more recently, then there may be another catalog folder somewhere that Lightroom is really using.
All the -4-2 files have a modified date of today.
 
All of those "Temporary Import Data" files can be deleted. Not sure why you get those, but as you've not had any more since the end of 2018 there may be nothing to worry about.
Regarding the catalogs, the Lightroom Catalog-4.lrcat and associated Helper Data files can be removed (also the spurious Lightroom Catalog-2 Previews.lrdata). The Lightroom Catalog-5.lrcat and associated files can also be removed, as it looks that was only for a few days back in January 2019.

No, there's no setting in LR to control how long things are kept.

BTW, unless you have since redirected catalog backups to a different drive, or you separately backup the Backups, having the catalog backups on the same drive as the original catalog really means you have no backup in the event of the catalog drive failing.
Thanks Jim, I will delete the files you suggest.
I use Windows "File History" which runs like every few minutes and saves to a USB drive.
I was also thinking of selecting the Backups folder for my Google Backup and Sync ...is that something you'd recommend?
 
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