LightRoom: previews vs smart previews

[Giovanni_1968]

Just found out I have two files ripping lot of space, the catalog previews.lrdata which gets updated every time the software is in use and then smart previews.lrdata which is over two years old.

Wondering if can delete the latter

Thank you

 

[Johanfoto]

Just found out I have two files ripping lot of space, the catalog previews.lrdata which gets updated every time the software is in use and then smart previews.lrdata which is over two years old.

Wondering if can delete the latter

Smart previews are substitutes for your original photos, so you can edit your photos when the originals are offline. You can also use them to speed up Lightroom (if you use the latest version). The creation date doesn't say everything. These two 'files' are actually 'packages' (folders that look like files), so the content can change without changing the creation date of the package.

You don't need smart previews to run Lightroom, so if you don't know why you made them, then you can safely delete them. Also check your import settings, so you don't create smart previews on import if you don't even know why you do that.

 

[dj_paige]

Just found out I have two files ripping lot of space, the catalog previews.lrdata which gets updated every time the software is in use and then smart previews.lrdata which is over two years old.

Wondering if can delete the latter

If you are not using the smart previews, and don't want them taking up space, delete them from within Lightroom. If you delete them using your operating system, Lightroom will simply re-create them.

 

[Johanfoto]

Just found out I have two files ripping lot of space, the catalog previews.lrdata which gets updated every time the software is in use and then smart previews.lrdata which is over two years old.

Wondering if can delete the latter

If you are not using the smart previews, and don't want them taking up space, delete them from within Lightroom. If you delete them using your operating system, Lightroom will simply re-create them.

That's true for normal previews, but that is not true for smart previews. Lightroom does not rebuild smart previews automatically.