Imported images seem to get "stuck" in local storage

[Laura Smith]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom 3.3 X64 [ 20200611-1039-7df19f1 ] (Jun 11 2020)

Operating System

1. Windows 10

When I import into Lr cloud, the originals get copied/cached at %AppData%\Local\Adobe\Lightroom CC\Data\xxxxxx\originals. So far, no surprises. But I have my local storage set to use a cache equal to 1% of free space (I just took it that low for testing) which should put the cache at about 400 MB. I don't have "Store a copy of all originals" ticked. If I filter by Original Stored Locally it doesn't show anything permanently set to be stored locally. So I would expect the images in that folder to be cleared out at some point, perhaps when Lr is closed. But they seem to just stay there and happily take up gigabytes. The images in that folder show up in Lr cloud as "Local: Original - CR2" in the info panel, so Lr knows they're there. Is this a bug or am I missing a setting somewhere, or perhaps misunderstanding how local storage works?

 

[Jim Wilde]

Is this a bug or am I missing a setting somewhere, or perhaps misunderstanding how local storage works?

It's pretty complicated, I believe. In relation to your specific settings (actions are different depending upon settings), the "Photo Cache" element is really meant to be the optional stuff that you can do without, such as Smart Previews and Originals (I say "do without" as these can be sourced directly from the cloud if they're not stored locally). The more space you allow Lightroom to use, the more "stuff" it can store and keep locally, which theoretically helps performance.....but when you have it set as low as you have it in your test it doesn't necessarily delete most of the already stored stuff straight away, as there are apparently very complex rules which determine when stuff is actually deleted. Also bear in mind that you can easily import a bunch of images which take up way more space on the hard drive that you've allowed Lightroom to use....and those images have to be stored locally until they have been uploaded. Once that is done they would become eligible for deletion, but that doesn't always happen immediately, it can take a week or two (depends on how much free space is still available on the drive).

I think Adobe realise themselves that they need to tighten things up in this area, and are actively looking at doing so. Added to that is that fact that there's probably a bug or two in there as well, only a couple of days ago I discovered that I still have some originals stored from several years ago which Lightroom has lost knowledge of (i.e. the sync status is Local: Smart Preview)....forcing a download of the original results in a "-2" added to the filename as the originally downloaded original is still present (with the original filename) in the appropriately dated sub-folder. The only way to clean that up is delete the complete local originals folder and letting Lightroom start over.

 

[mikebore]

The only way to clean that up is delete the complete local originals folder and letting Lightroom start over.

Thanks for this.

So provided we are sure the originals have been uploaded it is safe to manually delete the originals (on Mac) out of the Lightroom Library>Package Contents>long alphanumeric name>Originals?

 

[Jim Wilde]

So provided we are sure the originals have been uploaded it is safe to manually delete the originals (on Mac) out of the Lightroom Library>Package Contents>long alphanumeric name>Originals?

Yes, if that's where they are. Mine are on an external drive, so they're not in the Library package.

 

[Laura Smith]

[...] but when you have it set as low as you have it in your test it doesn't necessarily delete most of the already stored stuff straight away, as there are apparently very complex rules which determine when stuff is actually deleted. [...]

Excellent, you've thought of the thing I didn't spot - that the files already existed before I lowered the threshold. I've just deleted them, so I'll see if it gets more aggressive with clearing out the originals as I import more from now on. Thanks!

 

[Laura Smith]

Also bear in mind that you can easily import a bunch of images which take up way more space on the hard drive that you've allowed Lightroom to use....and those images have to be stored locally until they have been uploaded.

Yeah, I'm not expecting to keep it down to 400 MB, that would be a little crazy . I just want to see it working doing what I want it to do before I push it back up again.

 

[Steve Weingarth]

Jim, I am having a similar issue to what Laura posted. I have a 500Gb hard drive and noticed I was getting low on space. It turns out my LR original folder had files dating back to 2019. In June of 2019 I turned on local storage because I was traveling for two weeks with very limited internet access. I may not have had to do that I now realize.
When I returned, I turned off the local storage. It seems the originals have kept being saved.
I am going to take your advice to manually delete the photos and see what happens.
BTW I also use LR Classic but primarily to save local copies of files I import with LR Cloud.

 

[Steve Weingarth]

I have made another observation. Images that are deleted in LR and are removed from the cloud still remain in the LR Original folder. Is this because they are not permanently deleted for 60 days?

 

[Jim Wilde]

Is this because they are not permanently deleted for 60 days?

Yes. Try deleting one of them from within the Deleted set, you should see it immediately erased from the local store.