Operation Manual

169
Managing catalogs and folders
Last updated 11/30/2015
By default, Lightroom saves backed up catalogs to the following locations:
• Wi nd ows : \Users\[user name]\Pictures\Lightroom\[catalog name]\Backups\
• Mac OS: /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom/[catalog name]/Backups\
Inside the Backups folder, Lightroom creates a folder with the date and time of the backup: YYYY-MM-DD HRMN.
(The time is represented by a 24-hour clock without a colon between hours and minutes.) The backed up catalog is
saved inside the date-stamped folder, with the same name as the working catalog. Lightroom writes a new catalog every
time it creates a backup. To save space on your hard disk, delete or compress old backup files. In addition, make sure
that you have write permissions for the location where you decide to save your backup.
Note: Running Mac OS X Time Machine™ backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended.
On Mac, Lightroom CC/Lightroom 6.1 doesn't zip catalogs larger than 4 GB. This is because the default Mac OS unzip
utility is unable to handle archives larger than 4GB and reports such zipped catalogs as "corrupted".
Schedule catalog backups
1 Choose Edit > Catalog Settings (Windows) or Lightroom > Catalog Settings (Mac OS).
2 In the Backup area of the General panel, choose an option from the Back Up Catalog pop-up menu:
When Lightroom Next Exits Backs up the catalog the next time you exit Lightroom, and then the Back Up Catalog
option switches to Never.
Every Time Lightroom Exits Backs up the catalog every time you exit Lightroom, so changes from every working
session are always backed up.
Once A Day, When Exiting Lightroom Backs up the catalog the first time you exit Lightroom each day. If you exit
Lightroom more than once a day, additional changes are not backed up until the next day.
Once A Week, When Exiting Lightroom Backs up the catalog once a week. If you exit Lightroom more frequently,
additional changes are not backed up until the next week.
Once A Month, When Exiting Lightroom Backs up the catalog once a month. If you exit Lightroom more frequently,
additional changes are not backed up until the next month.
Never No backups are performed by Lightroom. (Not recommended.)
Back up a catalog automatically
1 Exit Lightroom when a catalog backup is scheduled in your Catalog Settings.
2 In the Back Up Catalog dialog box, click Back Up to back up the catalog at the default location and quit Lightroom.
Optionally, select any of the following before you click Back Up:
Backup Folder Shows you the default location where Lightroom saves backups. Click Choose to back up to a
different location.
Test Integrity Before Backing Up Checks for catalog corruption before Lightroom completes the backup. Testing
integrity increases the time it takes to back up the catalog but reduces the risk of data loss.
You can also test catalog integrity when you open a catalog. In the General panel of the Preferences dialog box, select
When Starting Up Use This Catalog > Prompt Me When Starting Lightroom. Then, start Lightroom. In the Select
Catalog dialog box, select Test Integrity Of This Catalog and then click Open.
Optimize Catalog After Backing Up Cleans up and reorganizes your database file to make it run faster and more
efficiently.