There are two options to transfer Lightroom to another computer. One is doing a manual transfer and the other, a much faster and easier option, is using transfer software that will automatically transfer Lightroom to another computer.
The holidays are often a time when people get a new computer, and the idea of transferring your Lightroom Classic catalog and all of your photos to a new computer can seem daunting at first, but once you know the basics you’ll find it is pretty straight forward.
Does Lightroom work on a new computer?
Yes, on the new computer and with the external drive connected, lightroom does not show the drive or any catalog listings when I look under catalog preferences. Imagine a new Lightroom install that has never been used. No external drive., and no photos., and no folders., and no collections.
Within the context of transferring Lightroom Classic to a new computer, there are essentially three components that you want to transfer from your old computer to the new machine: 1., and your photos. All custom presets, templates, and third-party plugins. The Lightroom Classic catalog (and its associated cache files).
If you have an older copy that’s on a disc, you can install with the same disc you used originally. You’ll need your product’s serial number to re-install Lightroom. If you registered your older product with Adobe or if you’re a subscriber, you’ll go straight to the Adobe website on your new computer.
We recommend you organize your library from within Lightroom, and create a one-directory structure before you begin any transfer. Once you’ve done this, then you can use an external drive to copy your library to another computer. Move Catalog File Your Lightroom Catalog is where the application stores all of the information about your photos.
Open the Catalog on the New Computer and Relink Any Missing Files Before starting up Lightroom, go to your catalog file and double click on it to open that catalog. Once open in Lightroom, take a look to see if any photos are not linked.
Where are my Lightroom photos stored on my old computer?
So on your old Mac, you can open the catalog and in the Folders panel, you can see all of the photos on the external drive. Where’s your catalog stored on the old computer? On the external drive or the Mac’s hard drive? You can check by going to Lightroom menu > Catalog Settings.
How to transfer presets from one Lightroom account to another?
You’ll also want to copy your presets to both computers, or perhaps check the ‘store presets with catalog’ checkbox in Preferences and copy them to the Lightroom Settings folder that’ll be created next to your catalog on the external drive. (There are other options like using Dropbox and junction points, but they get a bit more complicated.) Reply.