From an External Drive to a New Computer

[TimDuane]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom Classic version 9.1

Operating System

1. macOS 10.15 Catalina

I'm new here so please redirect me if this has been answered before: I've been working with an external 4 TB hard drive but I now have a new laptop (late 2019 16" MacBook Pro) with a 4 TB internal SSD. I want to transfer everything from the external drive to the new internal drive and then to be able to use the existing catalog. Files are now organized (both in LR and in the external HD) by year with sub-folders by name ("travel destination," "event name," etc.). How do I redirect the catalog to find the files on my internal HD? I keep getting messages saying that the catalog can't find the external HD. (NOTE: my old MacBook Pro was operating with Mac OS High Sierra version 10.13.6; new OS is Catalina.)

 

[Paul McFarlane]

Hi Tim and welcome!

It's not a difficult one, you will find the way on this blog:

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/move-photos-another-hard-drive-leaving-catalog/

 

[TimDuane]

Paul--Thanks for the link. I've followed the instructions, but LR still can't seem to find the "new" folder structure on my new internal HD despite having all of the same names and folder hierarchy that was in the original external HD. Instead, it shows the folders that were on my original internal HD plus the external HD (I had two LR catalogs--one for internal HD and one for external HD). I therefore can't right-click on the "Parent Folder," because LR can't find it. However, the thumbnails are all there (with a "!" in the upper-right-hand corner). Any advice on how to get LR to look "fresh" at my new internal HD to "see" the folder named "Tim Duane 4 TB Primary Photos" rather than to keep looking for the external HD with the same name? Thanks.--Tim

 

[Paul McFarlane]

Can you do a screenshot or two please? Then we can visualize!

 

[clee01l]

In your folder panel, you should see folders on the (old) EHD that now have (?) beside them This is where you need to work. If you have a lot of folders at the same level with (?) beside them right click on any one of those and choose "Show Parent Folder" from the context menu. This should expose the parent folder for all of the missing folders at the same level. Now, right right click that folder and choose "Find Missing Folder" and navigate to the new copy of that folder on the internal drive.

 

[TimDuane]

Paul and Cletus,

Thanks for your replies; I'm finally tackling this again over the weekend. I've tried right-clicking on the parent folder but it simply toggles the sub-folders on and off; I don't get a dialogue box allowing me to "Show Parent Folder" or "Find Missing Folder." I've attached a screenshot of what I see.

I've given the folder on the internal HD the same name it had as an external HD: "Tim Duane 4TB Primary Photos," but there is also another folder in LR called "4 TB Primary" that I believe is from a previous external HD (but then I transferred all of those files to a newer external HD with the full name). The files under "Macintosh HD" are accessible, but those were just used as a working LR catalog that had some short-term duplicates of the external HD.

This is incredibly frustrating--I just want to be able to work with LR when I'm mobile without hauling an external HD around!

Thanks,

Tim

 

[clee01l]

I've tried right-clicking on the parent folder but it simply toggles the sub-folders on and off;

That is a Left mouse click unless you have swapped mouse buttons in there mouse setup

 

[TimDuane]

Cletus,

Thanks, but all of your previous instructions said to right-click so that's what I was trying to do. Apparently I wasn't doing it properly, though, because I needed to tap my keypad with 2 fingers to "right-click" (rather than pushing down on the right of the trackpad and clicking it). It is now working and I've found all the files.

However, LR can't seem to find that file structure now that I want to import new photos from my Nikon Z7. Instead, I get an error message saying LR is going to "Pictures" instead. Any way to re-direct on Import?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[clee01l]

However, LR can't seem to find that file structure now that I want to import new photos from my Nikon Z7. Instead, I get an error message saying LR is going to "Pictures" instead. Any way to re-direct on Import?

In the Destination Panel should be all of your mounted volumes. If your images are stored on an EHD, you need to make sure that it is mounted and present in the Destination panel of the Import dialog. Once you get a set of repeatable import instructions you might want to save this as an Import Preset (drop down shown at the bottom of the center panel.)