If you need to find Lightroom’s files at any time, you’ll need to know where to look, so here are the most frequently used Lightroom file locations.
By default, the boot drive is C: on Windows and Macintosh HD on Mac. If your operating system is installed on a different drive, you may need to replace the drive letter/name on the file paths that are listed below.
[your username] refers to the name of your user account, for example, mine is called Vic.
The default location of the Lightroom catalog is…
Windows—C: Users \ [your username] \ My Pictures \ Lightroom \ Lightroom Catalog.lrcat
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Pictures / Lightroom / Lightroom Catalog.lrcat
You can check the name and location of your catalog by going to Edit menu > Catalog Settings (Windows) / Lightroom menu > Catalog Settings (Mac).
The default location of the Preferences is…
Windows—C: \ Users \ [your username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom \ Preferences \ Lightroom Classic CC 7 Preferences.agprefs
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Library / Preferences / com.adobe.LightroomClassicCC7.plist
Preference files aren’t cross-platform. By default, Preferences are hidden files on Windows and macOS.
There are also separate startup preferences. These include the last used catalog path, the recent catalog list, which catalog to load on startup and the catalog upgrade history.
Windows—C: \ Users \ [your username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom \ Preferences \ Lightroom Classic CC 7 Startup Preferences.agprefs
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Library / Application Support / Adobe / Lightroom / Preferences / Lightroom Classic CC 7 Startup Preferences.agprefs
The default location of most of Lightroom’s Presets and Templates is…
Windows—C: \ Users \ [your username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ Lightroom \
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Library / Application Support / Adobe / Lightroom /
If you’ve checked the Store presets with this catalog checkbox in Preferences, they’ll be stored next to your catalog file instead.
To find them easily on either platform, go to (Windows) / (Mac) and press the Show Lightroom Presets Folder button.
Each type of preset has its own subfolder, for example, Filename Templates and Metadata Presets.
Presets are cross-platform and are saved in a Lightroom-only format (.lrtemplate). They’re just text files with a different extension, so you can open them in any plain text editor.
If you have older style .lrtemplate Develop presets, place them in the Develop Presets subfolder and restart Lightroom. They’ll be converted to .xmp format and copied to the shared Camera Raw Settings folder.
Your shared Camera Raw Settings are stored at…
Windows—C: \ Users \ [your username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Adobe \ CameraRaw \
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Library / Application Support / Adobe / CameraRaw /
This includes your Develop presets (.xmp format), default settings, custom camera-specific profiles, custom lens profiles, lens profile defaults and custom point curves, because these are shared with Photoshop’s Camera Raw plug-in.
Camera profiles (.dcp format) go in the CameraProfiles folder.
Lens profiles (.lcp format) go in the LensProfiles folder.
Develop presets (.xmp format) go in the Settings folder. They appear in the Develop Presets panel.
(If Store presets with this catalog is checked in Preferences > Presets, the Develop Presets and Third-Party Creative Profiles may be in a Lightroom Settings/Settings subfolder next to the catalog instead.)
Third-Party Creative Profiles are stored at…
Windows—C:\ ProgramData \ Adobe \ CameraRaw \ Settings \
Mac—Macintosh HD / Library / Application Support / Adobe/ CameraRaw / Settings /
These are new-style Creative Profiles with an .xmp extension, which are then displayed in the Profile Browser panel. You can also put them in the Camera Raw Settings user folder along with .xmp format Develop presets (as previous).
The default location of the Camera Raw Cache is…
Windows—C: \ Users \ [your username] \ AppData \ Local \ Adobe \ CameraRaw \ Cache \
Mac—Macintosh HD / Users / [your username] / Library / Caches / Adobe Camera Raw /
You can set a custom location in Preferences > Performance tab.
How do I show hidden files to find my preferences and presets?
Many of these folders are hidden by the operating system.
On Windows, you can open the Start menu search box (Windows 7/10) / Search charm (Windows 8) search for the location, for example, type %appdata%\Adobe\Lightroom, and you’ll be taken directly to the Lightroom user folder.
On macOS, the user Library folder is hidden by default. If you go to Finder, select the , and hold down the Opt key, you’ll see Library appear in the menu, and then you can navigate to the Preferences or Application Support folder. Personally, I drag that Library folder to the sidebar so that it’s always easily accessible.
Preferences & Settings Menu Locations
A few of the menu commands are in different locations on Windows and Mac, depending on the operating system standard:
Lightroom Preferences & Catalog Settings are…
Windows—under the
Mac—under the
Photoshop Preferences are…
Windows—under the
Mac—under the
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