Mark Today’s Question
My external backup drive, where I store all my photos, has somehow been included in my Lightroom Classic catalog, resulting in duplicates of nearly every image. This seems unnecessary and is doubling the size of my catalog. Should I remove the backup drive from the catalog, and if so, what’s the best way to go about it?
Mark’s Answer
I don’t recommend including backup copies of photos in your Lightroom Classic catalog. If you’re confident that you’ve only been working with the primary photos (not the backups) in Lightroom Classic, you can easily remove the backup images by deleting the top-level folder from the catalog.
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Including backup copies of your photos in your Lightroom Classic catalog is unnecessary and can lead to issues. For example, duplicate images can cause confusion, resulting in some edits being applied to the primary images and others to the backups. This creates inconsistencies and scatters your updates across different files.
Before removing the backup images from the catalog, it’s a good idea to review them to ensure you haven’t accidentally made any updates to the backup files. You can use the Library Filter bar to check for metadata changes, such as star ratings, keywords, or other adjustments, to confirm they haven’t been part of your workflow.
Once you’re certain you’ve only been working with the primary images, you can safely remove the backup files from the catalog without deleting them from your hard drive. This preserves your backups while streamlining the catalog. However, before proceeding, I highly recommend creating an updated backup of your Lightroom catalog to ensure you can recover your work if needed.
To remove the backup files, locate the top-level folder for the backups in the Folders panel in the Library module. Right-click the folder and select Remove from the context menu. If the folder structure isn’t clear, right-click a folder and choose Show Parent Folder to navigate up the hierarchy until you find the top-level folder for the backup drive. Removing this folder will also remove all subfolders and associated photos from the catalog, but it won’t delete the files from the hard drive.
Be sure you’re only removing folders and images associated with the backup drive. The primary folders, photos, and their metadata on your main drive will remain unaffected. After completing this process, your Lightroom catalog will be more streamlined and efficient. For added peace of mind, consider creating another backup of your catalog after completing the cleanup, enabling error-checking and optimisation during the process.
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