# LRmobile (Android) syncing with LR Classic (PC) -- how to manage cloud storage



## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

I need some help in understanding how to manage cloud storage when syncing from LRm (Android) to LR Classic (PC). I've searched this forum/googled/read adobe's site and haven't found exactly what i need.

i use LRm on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ to shoot DNGs and sync them to LR Classic on my Windows 10 PC.  Recently the sync stopped working because I've exceeded my Adobe Cloud storage space.  I'm trying to determine how i can free up that storage space so syncing will resume.

Some key points:

1. I don't care a lot about leaving the photos in the cloud.  Once the photos are synced to my PC i'm ok if they are gone from the cloud.  
2. I'd  like to keep the photos on my phone, but that's optional, too. The primary reason i shoot LRm on my phone is to have a handy way to take a pic and automatically get the photos to LR Classic on my PC, where i manage them. So, once the photos are synced to my PC 
2. i only have a few synced albums in LRm on my phone. I can certainly delete those if it helps.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or recommended reading.


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## johnbeardy (Aug 19, 2019)

Select them in LrClassic in All Synced Photos, and delete them from there. This unsyncs them and removes them from any synced collections. Then sync them again, eg by adding them back to the synced collections. They now sync as smart previews and don't use space.

Alternatively, unsync the collection, then sync it again.


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## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

Thank you for the quick reply.  I have a few questions:

-- when they are removed from "any synced collections," i gather this means they are only removed from the cloud (and not on my PC or phone)?
-- what is the point of re-syncing them?


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## johnbeardy (Aug 19, 2019)

Yes, removing from ASP means the originals (ie photos taken on your phone) are removed from the cloud. Just try it with a test photo.

Resyncing them makes them available on your phone again, but only as smart previews, not using space. That assumes that you want the pictures on the phone (your first point 2).


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## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

Wow.  That's very clear and simple advice.  I tried it with a test photo as you suggested. I think i get it.

Am i correct that you're proposing this workflow for me:

1.  Shoot photos in LRm on my phone. The originals auto sync to the cloud and LR Classic on my PC.
2. In LRc, on my PC, after they have synced, delete them  from "all synced photos."  This removes the original from the cloud and from my phone
3. If i want the photos available on my phone, i re-sync them in LRc *(is the only way to do this by creating a collection in LRc and syncing it?)*

Also, is this correct:

1. if shoot photos on LRm, the originals auto sync to the cloud and my PC in LRc
2. If i delete photos shot in LRm on my phone, they delete from my phone and the cloud but  remain on my PC in LRc
3. If delete them from the main catalog on my PC in LRc, they remain in the cloud and my phone
4. If i delete them from All Synced Photos in LR Classic on my PC, they remain on my PC but not in the cloud or my phone

Sorry for the newbie questions; i know a lot more about LR Classic than i do about LRm


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## johnbeardy (Aug 19, 2019)

That is the workflow that manages the space best, and ensures that your photos are downloaded (ie are in LrClassic) .

To sync them in LrClassic, you can drag them back into ASP or add them to a synced collection. The latter is better because it's easier to find photos and they probably belong in groups anyway.

1. Yes
2. They remain on your PC _if_ they have already synced down into LrClassic before you deleted them on the phone. So one should be cautious about deleting on the phone, though there is now a Deleted collection in the cloud
3. Depends where you are deleting them from. Deleting them from ASP or a collection, yes. Deleting from a folder deletes them everywhere.
4. Yes


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## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

thanks again for all your help. I was stuck and this really helped a lot.

in a related question, i deleted some collections in LRm that i had created in LRm.  i was surprised to see them still in the "From LR Mobile" collection set on LRc. I thought that would delete the collection everywhere.


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## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

As I try to implement this I have a few related questions:
-- does it matter if i delete the photo in LRc from ASP or a synced collection?  Will the end result of removing the photos from the cloud (and my phone) be the same?
-- If i delete a synced collection from LRc, will it also delete the photos from the cloud and the phone?

I would try all this myself but my LRm/LRc  syncing isn't working right now because i'm over capacity.

i really appreciate your help.


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## johnbeardy (Aug 19, 2019)

"does it matter if i delete the photo in LRc from ASP or a synced collection?"

Yes, because deleting from ASP tells Adobe "remove it from the server". Deleting from a synced collection only tells Adobe "remove it from the collection" so it'll still be in ASP, just not in any collection.

"If i delete a synced collection from LRc, will it also delete the photos from the cloud and the phone?"

If you delete the collection, you get a message asking if you want to leave the photos in ASP.  It's a bit wordy, but you need to uncheck the box.


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## eschurr (Aug 19, 2019)

John, you're exceptionally helpful.  Thank you so much. i hope these are my last questions because I fear I am already over-doing this:

-- if i unsync the collection in LRc on my PC, it appears it does not delete the photos from my phone or ASP (and therefore not the server). is that correct? 
-- i tried deleting a synced collection from LRc and got the wordy dialog. I'm pretty sure that it indicates that the photos will delete from the server and other devices, but am i correct that the photos will remain on my PC in LRc?

It seems to me the only way to delete the photos from LRc on my PC is to delete the photos specifically from the grid or folder view.  In other words, once the photos are in LRc on my PC, nothing will delete them except a specific action on the photo in LRc. or the PC. That's good.


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## johnbeardy (Aug 20, 2019)

"-- if i unsync the collection in LRc on my PC, it appears it does not delete the photos from my phone or ASP (and therefore not the server). is that correct?"

Yes, it unsyncs the collection. So the collection disappears from the phone and Adobe's server, but the photos are still synced. So they are shown in ASP and if they are originals they use your space.

"-- i tried deleting a synced collection from LRc and got the wordy dialog. I'm pretty sure that it indicates that the photos will delete from the server and other devices, but am i correct that the photos will remain on my PC in LRc?"

Yes, just as when you are deleting a normal collection.

"It seems to me the only way to delete the photos from LRc on my PC is to delete the photos specifically from the grid or folder view.  In other words, once the photos are in LRc on my PC, nothing will delete them except a specific action on the photo in LRc. or the PC. That's good."

Removing from collections, unsyncing collections, deleting collections, removing from ASP are all safe. Deleting from grid/folder is deleting.

Practically, what I do is this. My originals in the cloud are photos/videos taken on my iPhone and raw files from my camera which I sometimes import when I want to examine/share them before I get home. They're generally in a collection and I want them to remain in it, but I don't want originals in the cloud. The trouble is, deleting them from ASP deletes then from the synced collection. So, I use the quick collection to help me. Once I see the photos in LrClassic I select them in the folder or collection grid view, Ctrl Shift B to empty the quick collection, hit B to add these photos to the QC, then go to ASP and hit Delete. This removes the originals from the cloud but takes them out of the synced collection. So quickly back to QC, select all, and add them to that synced collection. That's very quick.


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## eschurr (Aug 20, 2019)

Wow,. You have taught me so much in this thread; the information is clear and practical. I feel empowered to deal with the situation. In fact, i'm going to do a little summary write up to gather everything i've learned and share them with others. I'll bet a lot of people are confused on this topic.   Before i do that, i'd like to ask a question:

-- is there a way to tell in LRc if a Adobe is retaining an original version of the photo in the cloud or a preview version? In other words, if i look at the photos in ASP (or a synched collection) , can i tell which ones  have their originals in the cloud (and therefore need to be deleted from ASP and readded) and which ones don't?


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## johnbeardy (Aug 21, 2019)

It's probably time to move forward, do more tests and then try on a larger scale. 

One problem with documenting this is that it's a bit of a moving target! I don't just mean that Adobe keep switching round the product names, and the names of tabs or features, and changing dialog boxes, but a couple of key details have changed over the last three years. I don't want to confuse anyone by listing them, but my advice was different before those changes.



eschurr said:


> -- is there a way to tell in LRc if a Adobe is retaining an original version of the photo in the cloud or a preview version? In other words, if i look at the photos in ASP (or a synched collection) , can i tell which ones  have their originals in the cloud (and therefore need to be deleted from ASP and readded) and which ones don't?



You would hope so, but no, not in Lightroom Classic. There is a way in Lightroom Cloudy, but it means installing it! It has filters, one of which is "Synced and backed up" - this means original versions.

Practically, I use a collection called iOS Photos to import any originals on the phone. So I can always flush the system by emptying it.


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## eschurr (Aug 24, 2019)

Again, your reply was very helpful. I like the idea of having all photos shot in LRm to default to a specific collection so you can periodically review them, delete them from ASP, and resync the photos. That's a very simple, clean approach.

i summarized the key elements of what i learned from you below. i'm going to keep it and share it with others if it helps them. Do i have it correct?

*Adding photos*

-- Take a photo in LRm: it syncs the original to the cloud and toLRc

--  Add a photo to LRc via import and sync it to Adobe cloud: it only syncs a preview to the cloud and all synched devices


*How to synch from LRc to LRm:*

-- add a photo to All Synced Photos

-- add a photo to a synced LRc collection

-- choose to sync an existing LRc collection


*Deleting photos*

-- delete photo in LRm: it deletes from the cloud but not LRc

-- delete a synched photo in LRc: it deletes in the cloud and on LRm if you tell LRc to do that

--delete a photo from ASP: it deletes from the cloud and all synced devices


*Managing synced Collections*

-- create a collection in LRm: it automatically appears in LRc

-- create a collection in LRc: it appears in LRm if you choose the sync option

-- delete a collection on LRm: it deletes from the cloud but remains in the "From LR Mobile" collection set on LRc

-- delete a synched collection from LRc: it deletes the collection from the cloud and LRm, but the photo remains in LRm (on the phone)


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## eschurr (Mar 7, 2020)

i'd like to ask a few follow up questions about this if you are still willing to help me.

1.  When i put photos into ASP in LRc and they sync to LRm, if i don't have a strong internet connection on LRm i often get a message saying "failed to load development version."  Do i have to have a strong internet connection to load a Smart Preview on my phone?
2. i recently discovered the option to "store locally" on albums in LRm.   I understand this loads the full version of the photo, not just a Smart Preview. It seems that photos stored this way load faster and are fully editable, regardless of internet speed.  Is that correct?  the downside, of course, is that they consume far more storage space.  Is this the only way to reliably get photos on the phone from LRc?
3.  the "people" view in LRm doesn't work well if i don't have a strong internet connection.  I assume that's related to the above issues?

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## eschurr (Mar 30, 2020)

Is this forum still active?


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 31, 2020)

Yes it is, but obviously your follow-up post was overlooked. Apologies for that,

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, an internet connection is required to load a smart preview (for editing) on your phone....if it doesn't already exist on the phone. A smart preview is the minimum requirement for editing.
2. "Store Locally" can be used to give you edit access to your images when you have no (or a poor) internet connection, you do not have to download the Original. One of the options on the "Cloud Storage & Sync" tab of the LrM settings menu is "Only Download Smart Previews". With that option enabled, the Store Locally option will download the smart previews, not originals. Just make sure you do that when you have a good connection so that you are ready for whenever you have a poor connection. I keep ALL my synced albums permanently downloaded to my iPhone in Smart Preview format, which gives me full access to my images no matter how good or bad my online connection may be.
3. Not sure what "does not work well" actually means, but I could imagine that a poor connection could affect things. I just disabled WiFi on my phone, and when checking the People view some of the people thumbnails were blank.


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## eschurr (Mar 31, 2020)

Thanks so much for your help and i hope my last message wasn't snarky.  This forum (and you!) have always been a great source of information, and when i didn't get a reply i had to wonder.

A few followup questions:

If i want to have ALL of my photos in LrC on my phone, am i correct that I would have to create a album on LrC and put all my photos in it and sync it (or put all of my photos in LrC into ASP? )
I can't think of a way to automatically have any photos i add to LrC sync to LrM -- it seems the only way is to do what i said in #1. Is that right?
if i shoot a photo on LrM and later on don't like it, am i correct there is no way to use LrM on my phone to delete it from LrM AND LrC at the same time?  It seems that synced photos can only be deleted from LrM and LrC by deleting them from a synced collection in LrC.  is that right? My workaround is that if i decide i don't like a photo in LrM I mark it for deletion in LrM and then delete it from ASP in LrC so it deletes in both LrM and LrC at the same time.
Again, thank you very much for all your help.


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 1, 2020)

1. Basically yes, though you don't have to put them all into a single collection. I have around 20k images in the cloud, only about half of them are in collections/albums but all 20k can be accessed in the ASP in Classic and All Photos in the cloud apps.
2. My import preset adds all new imports to a single static collection for workflow purposes, and that collection is sync enabled. So all new imports are automatically synced.
3. Yes, correct. Your workaround is what we advise all Classic/Cloud users to do if they want to delete synced images from the cloud and Classic.


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## eschurr (Apr 24, 2020)

thanks again for all your help.

1.  am i correct that there is no way to have ASP automatically download to LrM on my phone?  I want to keep smart previews on my phone for all my photos, and i'm happy to do it in one album.  But i can't find a way to make LrM do that automatically for ASP.

2  If i'm correct about #1, and my only option to automatically sync+download is to add photos to a specific collection, is there a clever way to automatically do that?  You mentioned that you sync to a static collection. I can't find that in my import options or in a Google search.  How do you do that?


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## johnbeardy (Apr 25, 2020)

Define "download to LrM".  If you mean having everything "stored locally" on the phone, you can enable that setting individually for each collection. But it's easier to add all synced photos to a single collection, ensure that collection is synced, and then on the phone you'd set it to store locally. There's no smart way to do this.


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 25, 2020)

eschurr said:


> 2  If i'm correct about #1, and my only option to automatically sync+download is to add photos to a specific collection, is there a clever way to automatically do that?  You mentioned that you sync to a static collection. I can't find that in my import options or in a Google search.  How do you do that?


In Classic's import dialog there's the option to add the imported images to a specified collection (bottom of the File Handling section at the top of the right-hand panel). I do that, and the collection I use is set to sync, so all newly added images are automatically synced. If in LrM that specified collection is set to be stored locally then you'd have the smart previews automatically downloaded after they have been synced.


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## eschurr (Apr 25, 2020)

Jim Wilde said:


> In Classic's import dialog there's the option to add the imported images to a specified collection (bottom of the File Handling section at the top of the right-hand panel). I do that, and the collection I use is set to sync, so all newly added images are automatically synced. If in LrM that specified collection is set to be stored locally then you'd have the smart previews automatically downloaded after they have been synced.



Thanks!  I didn't see that option, although I thought i looked everywhere!  Thanks! I guess i could put all imported photos into that collection (and, of course, sync it and indicate to "store locally" on LrM) and then sort of forget about it. I can still work in "all photos" or "ASP" and anything i change or delete will be automatically reflected in that collection.  Great idea.


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 25, 2020)

I don't leave them in there....the collection that I add them to is my "Work in Progress" collection, and as I work through them one of the actions is to determine which of my other collections/albums an image should be added to (for display, sharing, Portfolio, etc.). Once added to any identified collections/albums, and all other processing has been completed, the image can be removed from the Work in Progress collection/album.


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