What's covered

• Important information for all platforms
• File locations in Mac OS X
• File locations in Windows XP
• File locations in Windows Vista

This document lists the file locations for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.x.

Back to top

Important information for all platforms

• Do not delete database files. The only file it's sometimes necessary to delete or remove is the preference file.
• If you find some Lightroom 2 Catalog files that end in -journal, do not delete these files. They are temporary files that allow the database to ensure recovery in a crash. 
• If possible, back up your files on a different hard disk or volume from the disk where your catalog is located. For more information on backing up in Lightroom, see Backing up the catalog in Lightroom Help.

Back to top

File locations in Mac OS X

The Photoshop Lightroom application is the Adobe Lightroom 2.app file, located in the Applications folder.

The preference file is the com.adobe.Lightroom2.plist file, located in the [user name]/Library/Preferences folder.

The following Photoshop Lightroom database files are located in the [user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder:

• Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat (the catalog itself)
• Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat.lock (this file prevents you from overwriting data)
• Lightroom 2 Catalog Previews.lrdata (the file that holds the preview data assigned to your photos)

Important: Apple made the user library folder hidden by default with the release of Mac OS X 10.7. If you need access to files in the hidden library folder to perform Adobe-related troubleshooting, see How to access hidden user library files.

The database backups are in the Backups folder located in the Pictures/Lightroom folder. Each backup file, named Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat, is in its own folder that is named with the date of the backup and the time in 24-hour clock format (without the colon). For example, a folder could be named 2008-08-19 1221. The actual backup catalogs sometimes contain an incremental number, such as Lightroom 2 Catalog-2.lrcat.

Installed and user-created presets and templates have filenames ending in .lrtemplate, and are located in their appropriate folders under the [user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom folder.

Registration data is in the Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Lightroom 2.0 Registrations folder.

Back to top

File locations in Windows XP

The Photoshop Lightroom application is the Lightroom.exe file, located in the Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 folder.

Preferences are located in the Lightroom 2 Preferences.agprefs file, located in the Documents and Settings/[user name]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom/Preferences folder.

The Photoshop Lightroom database file, Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat, is located in the Documents and Settings/[user name]/My Documents/My Pictures/Lightroom folder.

Previews are located in various folders in the Documents and Settings/[user name]/My Documents/My Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom 2 Catalog Previews.lrdata folder. They are organized and coded for the application to read, not for users.

The database backups are in the Backups folder located in the Documents and Settings/[user name]/My Documents/My Pictures/Lightroom folder. Backup catalogs are in folders that are named with the date of the backup and the time in 24-hour clock format (without the colon). For example, a backup folder could be named 2008-08-19 1352. The actual backup catalogs are in these folders. They sometimes are numbered with an incrementing number, such as Lightroom 2 Catalog-2.lrcat.

Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat.lock files prevent you from overwriting data.

Installed and user-created presets and templates have filenames ending in .lrtemplate, and are located in their appropriate folders under the Documents and Settings/[user name]/Application Data/Adobe/Lightroom folder.

Registration information is located in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.WINDOWS\Application
Data\Adobe\Lightroom\Lightroom 2.0 Registration.lrreg file. Registration data is now located in the C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Lightroom\Lightroom 2.0 Registration.lrreg file. Lightroom 2 reads the Lightroom 1.0 registration registry entry when it validates upgrade serial numbers.

Back to top

File locations in Windows Vista

The Photoshop Lightroom application is the Lightroom.exe file, located in the Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 folder.

Preferences are located in the Lightroom 2 Preferences.agprefs file, located in the Users/ [user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Lightroom/Preferences folder.

The Photoshop Lightroom database file, Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat, is located in the Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder.

Previews are located in various folders in the Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom 2 Catalog Previews.lrdata folder. They are organized and coded for the application to read, not for users.

The database backups are in the Backups folder located in the Documents and Settings/[user name]/My Documents/My Pictures/Lightroom folder. Backup catalogs are in folders that are named with the date of the backup and the time in 24-hour clock format (without the colon). For example, a backup folder could be named 2008-08-19 1352. The actual backup catalogs are in these folders. They sometimes are numbered with an incrementing number, such as Lightroom 2 Catalog-2.lrcat.

Lightroom 2 Catalog.lrcat.lock files prevent you from overwriting data.

Installed and user-created presets and templates have filenames ending in .lrtemplate, and are located in their appropriate folders under the Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Lightroom folder.

Registration data is located in the C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Lightroom\Lightroom 2.0 Registration.lrreg file. Lightroom 2 reads the Lightroom 1.0 registration registry entry when it validates upgrade serial numbers.

Back to top

Products affected