- Lightroom Classic User Guide
- Introduction to Lightroom Classic
- Lightroom and Adobe services
- Lightroom for mobile, TV, and the web
- Import photos
- Workflows
- Apply Masking in photos
- Export and save your photos as JPEGs
- Export and watermark your photos
- Import your photos
- Adjustment Brush: the basics
- Adjustments with the Tone Curve
- Advanced video slideshows
- Control white balance
- Create a contact sheet
- Enhance your workflow with Lightroom Classic
- Adjustments with Lens Blur
- Edit and Export in HDR
- Workspace
- Viewing photos
- Manage catalogs and files
- Maps
- Organize photos in Lightroom Classic
- Process and develop photos
- Develop module basics
- Create panoramas and HDR panoramas
- Flat-Field Correction
- Correct distorted perspective in photos using Upright
- Improve image quality using Enhance
- Work with image tone and color
- Masking
- Apply local adjustments
- HDR photo merge
- Develop module options
- Retouch photos
- Cure red eye and pet eye effects
- Use the Radial Filter tool
- Use the enhanced Spot Removal tool
- Export photos
- Work with external editors
- Slideshows
- Print photos
- Photo books
- Web galleries
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Troubleshooting
The folders that contain your photos are displayed in the Folders panel of the Library module. The folders in the Folders panel reflect the folder structure on the volume itself and appear in alphanumeric order. Click the disclosure triangle to the right of a volume name to see the folders on that volume. Click the triangle to the left of a folder to see any subfolders it contains.
You can add and move folders in the Folders panel, rename folders, and delete them. Changes you make to folders in Lightroom Classic are applied to the folders themselves on the volume.
Add an existing folder that contains images
Whenever you import photos, the folders in which they are located are added automatically to the Folders panel. You can add folders and import the photos they contain using the Folders panel.
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, click the Plus icon (+) and choose Add Folder.
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Do one of the following:
(Windows) In the Browse For Folders dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folders you want, and then click OK. Or, navigate to the location you want and click Make New Folder. Type a name to replace the New Folder name.
(Mac OS) In the Choose Or Create New Folder dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folder you want, and then click Choose. Or, navigate to the location you want and click New Folder. Type a name for the folder and then click Create. Then click Choose.
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If necessary, specify options in the Import Photos dialog box, and click Import.
If you have multiple copies of a folder and you want to change the location that Lightroom Classic points to, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the folder and choose Update Folder Location.
Add a subfolder
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select the folder in which you want to create the new folder. Then, click the Plus icon (+) at the top of the Folders panel and choose Add Subfolder.
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In the Create Folder dialog box, type the Folder name.
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If photos are selected, determine whether you want to copy the selected photos to the new folder, and then click Create.
In the Folders panel, the new folder appears in the hierarchy you specified. The new folder also appears in Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder.
You can tell if a folder contains subfolders by looking at the disclosure triangle to the left of the folder icon. If the triangle is solid, the folder contains subfolders. If the triangle is faint and dotted, the folder doesn’t contain subfolders.
Add a parent folder
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To add a new parent folder to the Folders panel hierarchy, select a top-level folder, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS), and choose Add Parent Folder.
Create collections or collection sets from folders
Create a collection from a folder
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select a folder.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Create Collection "[Folder Name]" from the context-menu.
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The Create Collection dialog box appears.
Follow the instructions to Create a collection from Step 2 onwards.
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All the photos contained in the selected folder, including its subfolders (if any), are added to the collection.
The collection appears in the Collections panel.
Note:In the Create Collection dialog box, the Name field picks the selected folder's name by default. If a collection already exists with the same name, Lightroom Classic displays 'The name is already in use.' message at the lower-left corner of the dialog box and the Create button is disabled. Specify a different name to proceed.
Create collections from multiple folders
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select two or more folders.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Create Collections From Selected Folders from the context-menu.
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Lightroom Classic creates a collection corresponding to each of the selected folders. The collections appear in the Collections panel.
All the photos contained in the selected folder, including its subfolders (if any), are added to the collection.
Note:While creating collections corresponding to your selected folders, Lightroom Classic assigns them the folder's name by default. If a collection already exists with the same name, Lightroom Classic displays a dialog prompt:'There is already a collection at the top level with the same name'.
To proceed, consider renaming the existing collection or renaming the folder and then create collections from the selected folders again.
Create a collection set from a folder
In the Folders panel, you create a collection set from a folder that contains subfolders. The collection set created in the Collections panel have the same hierarchy as that of the folders and its subfolders.
Note:
You can't create a collection set from a folder that doesn't contain any subfolders.
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select a folder that also contains subfolders.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Create Collection Set "[Folder Name]" from the context-menu.
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The Create Collection Set dialog box appears.
Follow the instructions to Create a collection set from Step 2 onwards.
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The collection set appears in the Collections panel.
Note:In the Create Collection Set dialog box, the Name field picks the selected folder's name by default. If a collection set already exists with the same name, Lightroom Classic displays 'That name is already in use.' message at the lower-left corner of the dialog box and the Create button is disabled. Specify a different name to proceed.
Create collection sets from multiple folders
In the Folders panel, you can create collection sets from folders that contain subfolders. The collection sets created in the Collections panel have the same hierarchy as that of the corresponding folders and its subfolders.
Note:
You can't create a collection set from a folder that doesn't contain any subfolders.
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select two or more folders that also contain subfolders.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Create Collection Sets From Selected Folders from the context-menu.
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Lightroom Classic creates a collection set corresponding to each of the selected folders. The collection sets appear in the Collections panel.
Add a color label to folders
Updated in Lightroom Classic 9.0 (November 2019 release)
In the Folders panel of the Library module, you can organize your images by assigning a color label to the folders. Beginning with Lightroom Classic CC 8.1 (December 2018 release), you can also assign color labels to the offline folders.
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) to bring up the context-menu.
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From the context-menu, choose Add Color Label and then select any color from the submenu.
A vertical color strip appears next to the image count of the folder.
Remove color labels from folders
Select one or more folders that have a color label. Right-click (Windows) / Control-click (macOS) and choose Add Color Label > None from the context-menu.
Filter color labeled folders
To filter all the folders that have been assigned a color label:
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In the search bar of at the top of the Folders panel, click the () icon.
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Choose Color Labels from the drop-down list and select a color.
Mark favorite folders
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Mark Favorite (if you've selected a single folder) or Mark Favorites (if you've selected multiple folders) from the context-menu.
A star icon appears over the folder that you've marked as favorite.
Unmark favorite folders
Select one or more folders marked as favorite. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) and choose Unmark Favorite (if you've selected a single folder) or Unmark Favorites (if you've selected multiple folders) from the context-menu.
Unmark folders marked favorite as a group
If you had selected a group of folders and collectively marked them as 'Favorites', Lightroom Classic doesn't display the option to 'Unmark Favorite' if you try to individually unfavorite any of these folders. You will have to unfavorite these folders as part of the original group.
To identify the folders marked favorite as a group and unmark them, do the following:
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In the Folders panel, select the folders that you marked favorite as a group.
Alternatively, click the Source Indicator in the Filmstrip to quickly identify the group of favorite folders.
In the Source Indicator pop-up menu, identify and choose the group of favorite folders listed under Favorite Sources.
When you choose group of folders from the Source Indicator pop-up menu, all the folders in that group get selected in the Folders panel.
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In the Folders panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) the selected favorite folders and choose Unmark Favorites from the context-menu.
Filter favorite folders
To filter the folders marked as favorite:
- In the search bar of at the top of the Folders panel, click the () icon.
- Choose Favorite Folders from the drop-down list.
Search folders
Use the search field at the top of the Folders panel to find folders based on the entered text.
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In the Library module, click the Filter Folders field at the top of the Folders panel.
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Enter the search text.
The Folders panel displays a filtered list of folders matching the entered search text.
To remove the filtering, click the cross icon in the search field.
Move folders
You can move folders into other folders in Lightroom Classic. You cannot copy folders in Lightroom Classic.
- In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and drag into another folder.
Video tutorial: Move folders around in Lightroom Classic
Rename folders
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select a folder.
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Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Rename from the menu.
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Overwrite the folder name.
View the contents of a folder
Lightroom Classic displays the number of photos in a folder to the right of the folder name. If you later add photos to a folder in the Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS), you’ll need to import the new photos into Lightroom Classic or synchronize the folder to update the number displayed in the Folders panel.
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In the Library module, do any of the following:
Select one or more items in the Folders panel.
Select a photo, and in the Metadata panel, click the right-pointing arrow next to the Folder field to display that photo’s folder.
By default, selecting a folder shows all photos in that folder and all subfolders in the Grid view and the Filmstrip. To show only the photos in the selected folder, choose Library > Include Photos From Subfolders to deselect it.
Synchronize folders
If the contents of a folder in your catalog don’t match the contents of the same folder on the volume, you can synchronize the two folders. When you synchronize folders, you have the option of adding files that have been added to the folder but not imported into the catalog, removing files that have been deleted, and scanning for metadata updates. The photos in the folder and all subfolders can be synchronized. You can determine which folders, subfolders, and files are imported.
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In the Folders panel, select the folder you want to synchronize.
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Choose Library > Synchronize Folder.
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In the Synchronize Folder dialog box, do any of the following:
To import photos that appear in the folders but have not been imported in the catalog, select Import New Photos. If you select Show Import Dialog Before Importing, you can specify which folders and photos are imported.
To remove photos that have been deleted from the folder but not from the catalog, select Remove Missing Photos From Catalog. If this option is dimmed, no files are missing. (You can choose Show Missing Photos to display the photos in Grid view.)
To scan for any metadata changes made to the files in another application, choose Scan For Metadata Updates.
Note:The Synchronize Folder command does not detect duplicate photos in a catalog. When you select Show Import Dialog Before Importing in the Synchronize Folder dialog, you can instruct Lightroom Classic to disregard duplicate files by selecting Don't Import Suspected Duplicates option in the Import dialog. For details, see Ignore duplicates when importing.
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Click Synchronize.
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If the Import Photos dialog box opens, confirm the folders and files you want to import, and then click Import.
If you have a missing folder that is also empty, use the Synchronize Folder command to remove it from the catalog.
Locate missing folders
If a folder is moved in the operating system instead of in Lightroom Classic, the link between the catalog and the folder breaks, and a question-mark icon appears on the folder in the Folders panel.
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To restore the link, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on the folder and choose Find Missing Folder from the context menu.
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Navigate to the file path of the moved folder and click Choose.Note:
For instructions on relinking individual missing photos, see Locate missing photos.
Delete folders
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and click the Minus icon (-). Or, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Remove.
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Click Continue in the dialog box.
The folder and its photos are removed from the catalog and the Folders panel. The original folder and photos are not deleted from the hard drive.
View volume information
The Folders panel provides information about the storage resources for each volume listed. For example, you can see whether a volume is online or offline and how much disk space is available. Volume information updates dynamically as you import and work with photos in Lightroom Classic.
- To change the information you see for a volume, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the volume name and choose any of the following:
Disk Space
Displays used/total disk space on the volume.
Photo Count
Displays how many photos in the catalog are on the volume.
Status
Indicates whether the volume is online or offline.
None
Hides all volume information.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a volume name and choose Show In Explorer (Windows) or Show In Finder (Mac OS) to open that volume in an Explorer or Finder window.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a volume name and choose Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac OS) to view the Properties (Windows) or Info (Mac OS) window for that volume.
- To change the information provided by the colored LED next to the volume name, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) it and choose one of the following:
Show Status
Indicates whether a volume is online (green) or offline (red).
Show Status And Free Space
Indicates whether a volume is online or offline, as well as how full the resource is:
Green
10 GB or more of space is free.
Yellow
Less than 10 GB of space is free.
Orange
Less than 5 GB of space is free.
Red
Less than 1 GB of space is free and the tool tip warns that the volume is nearly full. When less than 1 MB of space is free, the tool tip warns that the volume is full.
Gray
Volume is offline and photos on that volume are unavailable for editing. When photos are unavailable, only low-resolution previews display in Lightroom Classic.
Choose how a folder name displays
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In the Folders panel of the Library module, click the Plus icon (+) at the top of the panel and choose one of the following Root Folder Display options:
Folder Name Only
Displays only the name of top-level folders in the Folders panel. For example, 2011.
Path From Volume
Displays the full path and the name of top-level folders in the Folders panel. For example, Users/[user name]/Pictures/2011.
Folder And Path
Displays the name of top-level folders followed by the folder’s path in the Folders panel. For example, 2011 - Users/[user name]/Pictures/2011.
Note:You may need to drag the right edge of the panel to expand it to see the full path and name.