Sync Lightroom Classic - Unsync collection with Lightroom (cloud based) not working

[oddcreative]

Lightroom Version Number

14.2

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

Hi
When I unsync a collection (by unticking the sync box next to the collection) that's not within the Sync folder in Lightroom Classic the photos seem to remain in Lightroom (cloud based) i.e. they are not syncing, is this normal or should they disappear?
fyi - if I unsync a collection that's sitting within the sync folder (as opposed to a collection outside of the sync folder like mentioned above) in Classic the photos do disappear from Lightroom (cloud based).
My aim is to sync between Classic and Cloud based without using the cloud storage GB and from my understanding using the sync function outside the 'Sync Folder' should achieve this, is that correct?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[clee01l]

Synced image can be found in two places in the Lightroom Classic catalog. They are always found in the "All Synched Photographs" special collection.
If a collection is set to sync the images assigned to it will be synced and assigned to theLightroom album of the same name. If you want to remove an image for the Adobe Cloud, you need to remove it from BOTH the "All Synched Photographs" special collection and ant Static collections that are set to sync.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Hi
When I unsync a collection (by unticking the sync box next to the collection) that's not within the Sync folder in Lightroom Classic the photos seem to remain in Lightroom (cloud based) i.e. they are not syncing, is this normal or should they disappear?
fyi - if I unsync a collection that's sitting within the sync folder (as opposed to a collection outside of the sync folder like mentioned above) in Classic the photos do disappear from Lightroom (cloud based).
My aim is to sync between Classic and Cloud based without using the cloud storage GB and from my understanding using the sync function outside the 'Sync Folder' should achieve this, is that correct?
Many thanks in advance.

Can you explain what you mean by "Sync Folder"? Collections don't exist in folders, they are virtual entities that are listed in the dedicated Collections Panel, where they can additionally be organised into Collections Sets if required. So what are you referring to?

Albums created in the Lightroom cloud would typically appear in a "From Lightroom" collection set in LrC, but it shouldn't matter if a synced collection is within that "From Lightroom" collection set or not.

 

[Jim Wilde]

If you want to remove an image for the Adobe Cloud, you need to remove it from BOTH the "All Synched Photographs" special collection and ant Static collections that are set to sync.

If images are removed from "All Synced Photographs" they are automatically removed from any synced collection that they are in., but they would not be removed from any non-synced collections (but the images would be "unsynced").

 

[clee01l]

If images are removed from "All Synced Photographs" they are automatically removed from any synced collection that they are in., but they would not be removed from any non-synced collections (but the images would be "unsynced").

Agreed, However the OP has said:

unsync a collection (by unticking the sync box next to the collection)

Which neither removed the images from the collection or the "All Synced Photographs".

 

[Jim Wilde]

Which neither removed the images from the collection or the "All Synced Photographs".

Which is the intended behaviour. Unsyncing a synced collection will only remove the sync status of that collection, which in turn removes the corresponding album from the cloud. The collection remains in LrC, and the images within that collection remain in that collection and remain synced (so obviously remain in All Synced Photographs and they remain in the cloud).

 

[oddcreative]

Thanks for your help, I appreciate you helping me trying to figure this out.

By 'Sync Folder' I meant the collection that is called 'Sync Folder' within the 'Collections' drop down menu on the left hand side of Lightroom Classic. The folder that you put collections in if you want them synced with Lightroom (cloud) using their storage space.

I've tried what has been said above and yes when I go to 'All Synced Photographs' (in Lightroom Classic) and delete a photo there it automatically deletes it in Lightroom (cloud). So then what would be the correct process for syncing and unsyncing photos between Classic and Cloud without using cloud storage space .... to sync I just tick the box next to the collection (the collection outside the sync folder) and to unsync I do it in two steps, untick the collection (the one outside the sync folder) and go to 'all synced photographs' and search for the photographs there and then delete them?

 

[Califdan]

By 'Sync Folder' I meant the collection that is called 'Sync Folder' within the 'Collections' drop down menu on the left hand side of Lightroom Classic. The folder that you put collections in if you want them synced with Lightroom (cloud) using their storage space.

You are referring to the folder designated in Preferences -> Lightroom Sync as the folder as the desitination for images that originally come form Lr/Cloud.

Folders, including that one, do not sync with LR/Cloud. Only collections can be set to sync with the cloud.

To get an LrC image to sync up to tha Cloud, add it to any collection that is set to sync with the cloud OR into the "All synced Photographs" special colleciton in the Catalog Panel.

To stop an image from syncing and have it removed from Lr/Cloud but retained in LrC, Remove it from the "All synced photographs" special colleciotn

To leave an image in LrC and leave it in LR/Cloud but stop it from syncing can't be done unless you pause syncing althogether in LrC (cloud icon in upper right). As long as the sync process is not paused, every image in LR/Cloud will sync to LrC.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

By 'Sync Folder' I meant the collection that is called 'Sync Folder' within the 'Collections' drop down menu on the left hand side of Lightroom Classic. The folder that you put collections in if you want them synced with Lightroom (cloud) using their storage space.

There is no such folder. It sounds like you created a collection set that you called ‘Sync Folder’, and stored all your synced collections in that set. That is fine, but adding a new collection to such a set will not automatically sync that new collection, if that is what you expected.

 

[Califdan]

It will be a lot clearer to us if you send a screen shot of the "Lightroom Sync" tab of the Preferences dialog and a screen shot of the "Sync Folder" (expanded if it's a collection set).

 

[oddcreative]

Thanks for helping me try to solve this puzzle.

Yes @Califdan the 'Sync Folder' I am referring to (in Lightroom Classic) is the 'collection set' (I've been calling it folder but I've realised it's actually a 'collection set' with collections inside it) that I specified in preferences under 'specify location for Lightroom's Synced images':

These are the settings when I sync:

This is what I see in Lightroom with the above settings (when sync is completed):

These are my settings for when I try to stop syncing (I untick the boxes that I had ticked in the above settings):

But with the settings directly above (sync now unticked) I still see the photos in Lightroom on the right (however they've disappeared from the albums):

1. So do the folders sync but individual photos don't as such, i.e. the photos remain in Lightroom in the 'All Photos' folder unless manually removed (but don't count towards storage)?

2. What sits in that sync folder I screenshot at the top of this message (is it the photos that are in the 'all photos' folder in Lightroom? If I were to delete all the photos in that folder manually in finder (on mac) what would happen?

3. If I were to delete the photos in 'All photos' in Lightroom rather than deleting them in finder would this give the same result as point 2 above?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Califdan]

Unsyncing or deleting a synced Collection in LrC will remove the associated album from Lr/Cloud but does not unsync the photos in that collection. This is what you show in the last screen shot. The photos remain in the "All Photographs" album in LR/Cloud but the individual albums (one per color) are now gone.

If you want to stop images from syncing, you need to remove the images from the "All Synced Photographs" special colleciton in the Catalog panel. This will remove them from all synced collecitons and will delete them from all LR/Cloud Albums they may be in as well as the All Photos album.

You cannot have images Lr/Cloud that do not sync with LrC unless you turn off syncing altogether. You can have images in LrC that do not sync with LR/Cloud.

See my article:
https://www.danhartfordphoto.com/blog/2024/8/lr024-lr/classic-lrc-lr/cloud-lr-sync-behavior
Which cotains a comprehensive list of how various actions in LrC and LR affect the synced images, albums, and collecitons