Lightroom Classic Gets the Slows: With repeated use my LRC gets increasingly sluggish and (very) slow to respond to even simple commands, such as "Reject Photo." Once I reboot my...

Jdh1951 Loc: Los Angeles

With repeated use my LRC gets increasingly sluggish and (very) slow to respond to even simple commands, such as "Reject Photo." Once I reboot my computer (by turning it off altogether and turning on again, using "Restart" doesn't work), LRC again works well for a few days, then the "slows" start again. Does anyone know of a quicker solution that shutting down the computer entirely?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Are you using Windoze or Mac?
--Bob

Jdh1951 wrote:

With repeated use my LRC gets increasingly sluggish and (very) slow to respond to even simple commands, such as "Reject Photo." Once I reboot my computer (by turning it off altogether and turning on again, using "Restart" doesn't work), LRC again works well for a few days, then the "slows" start again. Does anyone know of a quicker solution that shutting down the computer entirely?

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Are you using the most recent version? I used to have issue like you describe, but performance enhancements Adobe has made in the past year or two have eliminated the issue for me.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...that doesn't sound like a "software" problem to me. <shrug> Maybe give the group more info on your system?

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Have you tried rebuilding your catalog? LR's catalog can get bloated and even corrupted over time (it's a SQLite database). From https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html

Lightroom is constantly writing changes to the catalog file (.lrcat). When performance slows, optimize the Lightroom catalog by choosing File > Optimize Catalog. Optimizing the catalog instructs Lightroom to examine the data structure of the catalog and make sure that it is succinct.

To further optimize performance and improve catalog stability, when you exit Lightroom, and back up the catalog, choose the options Test Integrity Before Backing Up and Optimize The Catalog After Backing Up. These processes take a little time but can help keep the catalog operating smoothly.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Did you google "lightroom classic performance" ?

Are you allowing the back-up / optimization run at least weekly when you exit LR?

This link has a few thoughts. The action I always see recommended is updating your cache size. Set this parameter to at least 20GB and assign to a folder on your local drive. Consider larger if you have the diskspace.

https://petapixel.com/2020/12/16/how-to-optimize-lightroom-classic-for-the-best-performance/

BebuLamar

chasgroh wrote:

...that doesn't sound like a "software" problem to me. <shrug> Maybe give the group more info on your system?

It does sound like a software problem although it may not be LR alone. It definitely not a hardware problem that makes a software running slower overtime.
But my guess is that LR is a cataloging software and when you add more images to its catalog it would slow down.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Jdh1951 wrote:

With repeated use my LRC gets increasingly sluggish and (very) slow to respond to even simple commands, such as "Reject Photo." Once I reboot my computer (by turning it off altogether and turning on again, using "Restart" doesn't work), LRC again works well for a few days, then the "slows" start again. Does anyone know of a quicker solution that shutting down the computer entirely?

A few questions no one has asked - what is your system configuration, how much free space do you have on your storage drive, and what OS are you using?

I've got a catalog with almost 200,000 entries and it's acceptably fast on an 11 yr old PC running Win7 (though it is a version or two older than current), and way faster on a 1 yr old laptop running Win10. I don't fill my drives past 75% of actual capacity, and I have it set to automatically back up and optimize the catalog on exit.

Since LR is well-indexed, increasing the size of the catalog rarely has a significant impact on performance. Where the catalog sits, preview size, free space, number of cpu cores all play a more significant hand in performance.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Gene51 wrote:

A few questions no one has asked - what is your sy... (show quote)

The question regarding "OS" has been asked. The prior post on optimizing LR was very informative.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Jdh1951 wrote:

With repeated use my LRC gets increasingly sluggish and (very) slow to respond to even simple commands, such as "Reject Photo." Once I reboot my computer (by turning it off altogether and turning on again, using "Restart" doesn't work), LRC again works well for a few days, then the "slows" start again. Does anyone know of a quicker solution that shutting down the computer entirely?

If your shooting Windows like me, restart your computer. Things should get better.

cjc1103 Loc: Chattanooga, TN

As an IT Tech, you have to ask some basic questions to troubleshoot. If it was a computer issue there is tons of info out there on reasons for a computer slowing down, hard drive failing, RAM maxed out causing memory paging is perhaps the most common for older computers, malware, etc., fixes may be upgrade hardware, reinstall OS, new hard drive, etc. In this case I'm assuming the computer/operating system is not slowing down, just Light Room. Optimize the catalog first. Backup the catalog, reinstall Light Room. If that doesn't fix it, and the hard drive is not close to full, perhaps reinstall Windows on a SSD drive - this is a quick and inexpensive fix for older computers. You can keep the old drive for photos. Failing all that, perhaps it's time for a new computer.

Jdh1951 Loc: Los Angeles

Windows 10 (Pro, I think)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Jdh1951 wrote:

Windows 10 (Pro, I think)

That helps but having the rest of the information is important if you are looking for meaningful suggestions. Optimizing the catalog is likely to have the least impact on performance, if everything else is not up to snuff.

CPU
Ram
GPU
Vram
Screen resolution
Hard drive(s) size and type (mechanical, SSD-SATA, m.2, internal/external)
Free space on the drive
Cache sizes
preview size and when they are generated (on import or in the course of editing)
are smart previews being used
etc

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

traderjohn wrote:

The question regarding "OS" has been asked. The prior post on optimizing LR was very informative.

No it hasn't. The question of which platform was asked, that is not the same as OS. Each platform has different operating systems and in the case of Mac, there can be some performance issues with certain versions.