Using Lightroom for all of your basic file management tasks accomplishes two things:

  1. It gets the job done.
  2. It keeps the catalog in sync with the changes.

This is why it is critical that after you import photos into the catalog, you do tasks like moving photos between folders from within Lightroom. It’s as easy as drag and drop, but for new users who are more familiar with other software programs, sometimes people fall back on old habits instead of developing new ones. If you move photos, or folders containing photos, using some other program it is not the end of the world, but it might create a bit more work for you to get the catalog reconnected with the changes (I’ll save that for another FAQ).

Moving Photos

When moving photos between folders, try this:

  1. Press G to jump to Grid view of the Library module.
  2. Select the folder containing the photos you want to move in the Folders panel.
  3. Select the photos you want to move in the Grid.

4. Drag the photos to the desired destination folder in the Folders panel.

5. If prompted, click Move to complete the task.

This results in the photos being moved to that folder on your drive, and the catalog being updated with that new location information. This is what I use when moving small batches of photos. For moving large amounts of data, I suggest using the Update Folder Location command.

To move an entire folder to a new location, just select the folder in the Folders panel, and drag it to the desired destination folder.