Import photos from a folder on a hard drive

Do one of the following to open the import window:

• Select Library > Import.

• Select File > Import Photos And Video.

Select Select A Source or From, or use the Source panel on the upper-left side of the import window to navigate to the files you want to import.

Connected networks appear in the Source panel. To add a network location, select From or Select A Source, and then Other Source, and navigate to the networked folder (macOS) or select the   icon to the right of the Source panel name, and then select Add Network Volume.

In the upper center of the import window, specify how you want to add the photos to the catalog:

Copies photos to the folder you choose and converts any camera raw files to the Digital Negative (DNG) format.

Copies the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files.

Moves the photo files to the folder you choose, including any sidecar files. Files are removed from their current location.

Keeps the photo files in their current location.

Select the photos that you want to import from the preview area in the center of the import window. A check mark in the upper-left corner of the thumbnail indicates that the photo is selected for import. 

Select one of the following options to review and and choose photos from the selected source folder:

Shows all photos from the selected folder.

Excludes suspected duplicates and previously imported photos.

(Available only when copying or moving photos into a catalog) Groups photos by their destination folder.

To filter photos within All Photos, New Photos, or Destination Folders, do the following:

• Filter by File type: Select a file type from the dropdown menu (e.g., JPEG, PNG, or DNG) to filter photos by format. You can also select multiple file types. 
• Rating  : Filter photos by star rating to view and import those that meet or exceed the selected rating.
• Color Labels: Filter photos by one or more color labels to show only images tagged with the selected colors.
• Lock   and Unlock   icons: Filter photos by their protected status. Lock icon shows photos marked read-only (protected, typically set using camera hardware), and the Unlock icon shows photos that aren't protected.
• Reset Filter: Clear all applied filters and return to showing every photo in the current view.

If you're importing photos by moving or copying them, specify where to put them: In the upper-right corner of the window, select To and choose a location for the photos. Or select a location in the Destination panel and specify other options:

Copies or moves the imported photos into a new folder. Type the name of the new folder in the text field.

Organize the photos in the new subfolder in one of three ways: preserve the original folder hierarchy of the source folder; create subfolders by date; or put all photos into one folder.

Choose a format for the dates.

To manage the photo preview in the import window, do the following

• Loupe View : Zoom in on a single photo.
• Check All or Uncheck All: Select or deselect all photos in the folder. Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (macOS) anywhere on the thumbnail to select and deselect photos.
• Sort dropdown menu: Sort photos by capture time, checked state, filename, or media type (image or video file).
• Thumbnails slider: Adjust the size of the thumbnails in the grid.

Specify other import options for the imported files using the panels in the upper-right side of the window. 

Select Import. If you don't want to import right now but want to save the changes you made to the import settings, then select Done.