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Multiple Catalog files, can I delete some and if so, which ones?

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crshlagor

Member
Premium Classic Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2020
Messages
27
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom Classic 10.4
Operating System
  1. macOS 11 Big Sur
I'm fairly new to Lightroom Classic so I can't explain how I ended up with all these catalog files. I only want to work with one catalog. I'm afraid to delete anything but I can't imagine all of these are needed. Lightroom was closed when I looked these up in Finder and I thought that the wal and lock files are only supposed to show up when Lightroom open? Any suggestions on how to clean this up?

1633902797454.png
 
The top two entries starting "Temporary Import Data" can be deleted.

The next 5 entries, starting "Lightroom Catalog-current-V10" belong to the catalog that you are currently using, so they must not be touched.

The next 4 entries, starting "Lightroom Catalog-2" can be deleted, also the final entry (Lightroom Catalog-2 Smart Previews.lrdata) belongs to this group so it can also be deleted.

The next entry, "Lightroom Catalog-current.lrcat" would seem to be the catalog you were using this time last year, which was then replaced with the "-v10" version when you updated Classic to version 10. At this stage it seems improbable that you would ever need to use it again (it can't be used in the current version of LrC), so you can either delete it or archive it by moving it somewhere else, e.g. into a "Catalog Archive" folder.
 
The top two entries starting "Temporary Import Data" can be deleted.

The next 5 entries, starting "Lightroom Catalog-current-V10" belong to the catalog that you are currently using, so they must not be touched.

The next 4 entries, starting "Lightroom Catalog-2" can be deleted, also the final entry (Lightroom Catalog-2 Smart Previews.lrdata) belongs to this group so it can also be deleted.

The next entry, "Lightroom Catalog-current.lrcat" would seem to be the catalog you were using this time last year, which was then replaced with the "-v10" version when you updated Classic to version 10. At this stage it seems improbable that you would ever need to use it again (it can't be used in the current version of LrC), so you can either delete it or archive it by moving it somewhere else, e.g. into a "Catalog Archive" folder.
Thank you so much, I appreciate your help!
 
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