How do I move photos in Lightroom from one internal hard drive to another internal hard drive? Here's my situation: Since I got this Windows 10 computer, I've been importing all of my...

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Here's my situation: Since I got this Windows 10 computer, I've been importing all of my photos to the C drive which is 500 Gb. That drive is about 3/4 full now and my grandson pointed out to me that I have a 1 terabyte internal drive with nothing on it. I would like to move the photos to the 1 terabyte drive but can't find out how to do it in Lightroom. I've looked at numerous videos on YouTube but the closest I could find was a video showing how to do it on a mac. The instructions don't really transfer well to the windows machine. So does anyone know of a good video tutorial showing how to do this on a Windows 10 computer.

I wasn't sure if this was the correct section to post this question in. If not, please point me to the correct one. Thanks in advance.

Walt

Edit: I've begun importing my photos to the D drive with no problem, but want to move the rest over to D drive also.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Whuff wrote:

Here's my situation: Since I got this Windows 10 ... (show quote)

I recently moved off of Lightroom in favor of DXO Photolab, and no longer have Lightroom installed on my machine, but if you're going to move the files you need to do it within Lightroom using Lightroom's file manager. If you move everything outside of Lightroom, Lightroom will not know where your images are, and while that is certainly fixable, it can also be very time-consuming.

I just found this link to a YouTube video on this subject. I haven't viewed it, but perhaps it will help you.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxZ6amo0kc

sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

In the LR file manager, you can add a new location. I'd create a folder on the new drive and then add that in LR ('+' sign on file manager window). Then you can create new folders in it from LR and/or drag other folders to it. It can take time to move things. You will then see both locations in the LR file explorer.

Have a backup first.

I have an SSD with all recent images and a traditional, large hard drive for older images. I have a backup script that copies the contents of both to yet another traditional drive and a USB drive. Don't get too fancy with where you store things, but be very aware of where imports go and where you are moving things.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Whuff wrote:

Here's my situation: Since I got this Windows 10 ... (show quote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxZ6amo0kc

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxZ6amo0kc

Lol, we both posted the same YouTube link. Great minds think alike.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

mwsilvers wrote:

I recently moved off of Lightroom in favor of DXO ... (show quote)

I’m aware that I need to do it within Lightroom. I tried following the video but it also is about doing it on a mac. I’m unable to use the same sequence of steps as it doen’t translate as well. Either that or my file structure is just not set up properly.

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

sandiegosteve wrote:

In the LR file manager, you can add a new location... (show quote)

I’ve created a new folder on the D drive but it won’t let me drag and drop. When I try to do that I get a symbol of a circle with a line thru it and the files will not move. Maybe I should mention that this is not the CC version but the standalone Lr 6.14

Walt

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxZ6amo0kc

As I stated before, that link is for moving files on a mac. I’m unable to follow that steps and unable to drag and drop.

Walt

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Whuff wrote:

As I stated before, that link is for moving files on a mac. I’m unable to follow that steps and unable to drag and drop.

Walt

I can't step you through it because as I've said I uninstalled Lightroom. As I indicated I also didn't look at the video and didn't realize it was Mac only. But I will look for another source that is for Windows 10.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

Thank you for all the suggestions. I contacted the Adobe customer service chat line and they are in the process now of moving my 7000 (give or take) photos.

Walt

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Whuff wrote:

I’ve created a new folder on the D drive but it won’t let me drag and drop. When I try to do that I get a symbol of a circle with a line thru it and the files will not move. Maybe I should mention that this is not the CC version but the standalone Lr 6.14

Walt

Did you create that new folder from within Lightroom? It really shouldn't make a difference though. Are you attempting to copy or move the images to the alternative drive? Are you moving everything in Lightroom from your C drive? You didn't by any chance try to move the Pictures folder to you D drive did you? Windows probably will not let you do that.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

mwsilvers wrote:

Did you create that new folder from within Lightroom? It really shouldn't make a difference though. Are you attempting to copy or move the images to the alternative drive? Are you moving everything in Lightroom from your C drive? You didn't by any chance try to move the Pictures folder to you D drive did you? Windows probably will not let you do that.

Problem solved. I let Adobe do it for me.

Walt

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Whuff wrote:

Problem solved. I let Adobe do it for me.

Walt

That's great. Did they help you understand why you were having a problem? it might be useful information to have if you want to move files again in the future.

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

mwsilvers wrote:

I recently moved off of Lightroom in favor of DXO ... (show quote)

I'ts not time consuming at all. Just move the parent folder to the new location using Windows Explorer, open LR in the Library module folder view, the parent folder will have a question mark on it - right click on the parent folder name and select "Update Folder Location . . ." and you are done. The only time consuming part is moving the parent folder (and all it's subfolders) to a new drive. If you have 1000s of images that part may take 15-30 minutes.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Gene51 wrote:

I'ts not time consuming at all. Just move the parent folder to the new location using Windows Explorer, open LR in the Library module folder view, the parent folder will have a question mark on it - right click on the parent folder name and select "Update Folder Location . . ." and you are done. The only time consuming part is moving the parent folder (and all it's subfolders) to a new drive. If you have 1000s of images that part may take 15-30 minutes.

You are correct of course. What I meant is that most people who struggle with understanding Lightroom go back in to it after moving their images folders, find their images are no longer accessible, don't know how to fix it, and spend hours learning how to resolve the issue. That's what I meant when I said, "it can also be very time-consuming".