Browse photos by folders

When you import photos into Lightroom, the folders containing them are displayed in the Folders panel of the Library module. The number of imported photos is displayed to the right of the folder name. If you later add photos to a folder in the Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac OS), you’ll need to import the new photos into Lightroom or synchronize the folder to update the number displayed in the Folders panel.

In the Library module, do any of the following:

Select one or more items in the Folders panel.
Select a photo, and in the Metadata panel, click the right-pointing arrow next to the Folder text box.

Photos in the selected folders and their subfolders display in the Filmstrip and the Grid view. The active photo in the selected folders appears in the Loupe or Survey view.

By default, selecting a folder shows all photos in that folder and all subfolders. To show only the photos in the selected folder, choose Library > Include Photos From Submenus to deselect it.

Folders panel displaying folders and many photos they contain

Create new folders in the Folders panel

In the Folders panel of the Library module, select the folder in which you want to create the new folder, and click the Plus icon (+) at the top of the Folders panel.
In the Create Folder dialog box, type the Folder name.
If photos are selected, determine whether you want the selected photos to be copied to the new folder, and then click Create.

In the Folders panel, the new folder appears in the hierarchy you specified. The new folder also appears in Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder.

Add existing folders to the Folders panel

Whenever you import photos, the folders in which they appear are added automatically to the Folders panel. You can add folders and import photos using the Folders panel.

In the Folders panel of the Library module, make sure that no folders are selected, and click the Plus icon (+).
If a folder is selected in the Folders panel, you can only create a folder.
Do one of the following:
- (Windows) In the Browse For Folders dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folders you want, and then click OK.
- (Mac OS) In the Choose Or Create New Folder dialog box, navigate to the location you want, select the folders you want, and then click Choose.
If necessary, specify options in the Import Photos dialog box, and click Import.

Move photos to a different folder

(Optional) If you’re not moving photos to an existing folder, create a new folder.
Select a folder in the Folders panel.
In the Grid view, select the photos you want to move.
Drag the photos to a folder in the Folders panel.
The actual photos are physically moved to a different folder on the hard drive.

Delete folders in the Folders panel

In the Folders panel of the Library module, select one or more folders and click the Minus icon (-).
Click Continue in the dialog box.
The folder and its photos are removed from the catalog and the Folders panel. The original folder and photos are not deleted from the hard drive.

Rename folders

In the Folders panel of the Library module, select a folder.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Rename from the menu.
Overwrite the folder name.

Comments

Brinny07 said on Apr 28, 2007 at 8:10 AM :

I cannot move files in one folder to another folder... what am I doing wrong? I have selected the files and when dragging over to the destined folder lightroom will not allow me to move the files. Hope you can help me out!

No screen name said on Apr 30, 2007 at 1:21 PM :

In the Library module, make sure you drag from the center of one of the selected photos in the grid.

No screen name said on May 21, 2007 at 6:14 AM :

When adding files to a folder using Adobe Bridge they don't show up in the same folder in Lightroom. This should happen automatically and not require a reimport of the files in the folder. How does one know that there are files missing when only using Lightroom? Also, when adding IPTC data in Photshop it doesn't show up in Lightroom. Is there some way to cause this update to happen?

No screen name said on May 22, 2007 at 1:37 PM :

Try using the Auto Import feature. See the "Importing automatically" topic.

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