I used Lightroom to move a folder but it moved all the hierarchy above too

[rogerbuckingham]

Lightroom Version

Lightroom Classic version: 11.3.1 [ 202204181225-f90ebff5 ]

Operating System

1. macOS 12 Monterey

Hi

I've moved a folder, using Lightroom, from my main storage location, which is a OneDrive folder on my local drive, to an external drive. Something odd has happened. The folder went where I wanted it but all the images in the moved folder had an error message saying they were missing. I searched for them and found them in a folder with the same name but in a hierarchy that matched where they came from. I then reconnected them but I now have a very big 'tree' of folders I don't need.

Here's a screen grab; the folder I moved was 2020 02. I intended this folder to be in a hierarchy Archive 4TB HDD > Lightroom Photos Archive > 2020, but this is what I ended up with:

Is this normal? Is there a way to move it 'normally' without creating the hierarchy and having to relink etc? I'd be very grateful for any advice. Thanks.

 

[clee01l]

Depends on where you moved it from and what was the existing hierarchy at the destination.

Every folder except the root folder (/) has a parent folder. If you selected folder “2020 02” and only “2020 02” Then it will move the folder AND its contents including sub folders to the destination parent. I do not see a folder named “Lightroom Photos Archive” with a sub folder “2020”. It has to exist as a destination before Lightroom Classic can move the folder.

 

[rogerbuckingham]

Depends on where you moved it from and what was the existing hierarchy at the destination.

Every folder except the root folder (/) has a parent folder. If you selected folder “2020 02” and only “2020 02” Then it will move the folder AND its contents including sub folders to the destination parent. I do not see a folder named “Lightroom Photos Archive” with a sub folder “2020”. It has to exist as a destination before Lightroom Classic can move the folder.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I had already created the folder "Lightroom Photos Archive" with a sub-folder "2020" before I tried to move it. I didn't show that on my original post, sorry. So it was an existing folder and this is where I was trying to move it to. The screen grab shows what Lightroom actually created when I moved it.

 

[clee01l]

Your screen shot suggests that you selected the Library folder and moved it to the sub folder “Cloud Storage”. This could have happened some time ago or it could have happened instead of the move you intended.

If you select the folder “2020 02” it will be highlighted. Your cursor will then become an icon of a collection of folders. You can then drag this to the folder path “Lightroom Photos Archive/2020” in the folder panel and when “2020” is highlighted, drop it on the “2020” folder. At that point “2020 02” and everything below it will disappear from its old parent and show under the “Lightroom Photos Archive/2020” parent.

If you did not grab the “2020 02” folder and its sub folder and drop it in a valid location, No move will occur and everything will stay where it was. Your screen shot is showing me source folder hierarchy before the move you intended. If you had actually completed a move then the folder hierarchy that you grabbed would show under the Subfolder that you intended (“Lightroom Photos Archive/2020”)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[rogerbuckingham]

Your screen shot suggests that you selected the Library folder and moved it to the sub folder “Cloud Storage”. This could have happened some time ago or it could have happened instead of the move you intended.

If you select the folder “2020 02” it will be highlighted. Your cursor will then become an icon of a collection of folders. You can then drag this to the folder path “Lightroom Photos Archive/2020” in the folder panel and when “2020” is highlighted, drop it on the “2020” folder. At that point “2020 02” and everything below it will disappear from its old parent and show under the “Lightroom Photos Archive/2020” parent.

If you did not grab the “2020 02” folder and its sub folder and drop it in a valid location, No move will occur and everything will stay where it was. Your screen shot is showing me source folder hierarchy before the move you intended. If you had actually completed a move then the folder hierarchy that you grabbed would show under the Subfolder that you intended (“Lightroom Photos Archive/2020”)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you. I tried to move this in the same way as I've always moved folders. I highlighted the folder 2020 02 in its original place on my local hard drive (a OneDrive folder), dragged it to an existing folder (Lightroom Photos Archive > 2020 on an external drive) and let go. This moved the folder but all photos were 'not found'. I found and successfully reconnected them and the folder tree shown in my screen grab was then created.

Incidentally, I subsequently tried to drag and drop the 2020 02 folder into the correct place and now it has disappeared completely. When I look in Finder, it has actually moved and all the photos are there but it's not in Lightroom any more.

I don't usually have a problem with this but ever since Microsoft changed the way OneDrive works earlier this year, I have had several weird things happen!

 

[Johan Elzenga]

The double ‘Library/CloudStorage’ hierarchy suggests that this is indeed an issue caused by OneDrive.