Can I delete LR Backups

My computer is in crisis: HD is full. I can't figure out what's taking all the space but anyway. I have tons of LR backups. Can I delete them all but the current one?

In the library there's a folder with a date on it. I want to delete them all but the most recent date?

Simple answer, Yes.

Yes, you can safely delete the old backups. Do that, then get an external drive and move your pictures there to free up some space.

Thanks all and sadly Mark, all my raw files are on an external. I have a folder for Jpegs I'm working but it's only 30g I think. I have 250 on this and I'm not sure what's taking up the rest. It must just be bits and pieces of things here and there. I was deleting pics like crazy thinking that's what it was, but when I checked the whole folder and saw it was only 30g I am not going searching elsewhere for what might be hogging it. The LR backups were a good bit.

Tree Size Professional is a good program to own for people who suffers space issues.

Abby, the main reason for backing up your catalog is insurance against a hard disk failure. For this reason it makes little sense for the backup to be on the same drive as the working catalog. When you close LR and the window asking if you want to do a backup comes up, there is a "Browse" button with which you can choose a location on the external drive.

Also, it is unclear whether you shoot and edit Raws or jpgs, but if you shoot Raw there is no need to permanently store jpgs. As long as you have the Raws and the catalog, you can in seconds make a jpg when you need it, usually for sending off to somewhere else - web sharing or printing - and after it has been sent it can be deleted.

I made a bat file using Notepad that I leave on my Windows desktop and click on any time I want to recover some SSD space (where my LR backups and Previews are stored). It deletes any backup older than 60 days.

tzalman wrote in post #16443123
Abby, the main reason for backing up your catalog is insurance against a hard disk failure. For this reason it makes little sense for the backup to be on the same drive as the working catalog. When you close LR and the window asking if you want to do a backup comes up, there is a "Browse" button with which you can choose a location on the external drive.

Also, it is unclear whether you shoot and edit Raws or jpgs, but if you shoot Raw there is no need to permanently store jpgs. As long as you have the Raws and the catalog, you can in seconds make a jpg when you need it, usually for sending off to somewhere else - web sharing or printing - and after it has been sent it can be deleted.

Thank you so in regards to your first paragraph you are saying my LR backup should be on my external not my computer? I guess I should at least make a copy of it to an external.

I do shoot raw. I keep my jpegs on a folder on the desktop for awhile, then move them to storage. I usually keep them just in case, and I have a folder of favorites if I want to access them for web stuff, etc. After this year, I will retire everything to my hard drive, make a copy of it and get a fresh external as well.
Thank you

Bob_A wrote in post #16444095
I made a bat file using Notepad that I leave on my Windows desktop and click on any time I want to recover some SSD space (where my LR backups and Previews are stored). It deletes any backup older than 60 days.

What's a bat file? Is that like a bat cave? (sorry I had to make a joke b/c I have no clue…..)

It's a batch file that has the file extension *.bat

... from the olden days of DOS. (Back when you needed a darkroom, not Lightroom.)

Corbeau wrote in post #16447431
... from the olden days of DOS. (Back when you needed a darkroom, not Lightroom.)

A little more modern ... but similar. It's the only method that works though unless you want to go in the folder and delete them manually. I just click the icon on my desktop and it's done in less than a second. If I want I can also have Task Scheduler simply run it every couple of days automatically and then never worry about filling up my SSD with backups again.

I don't understand why Adobe doesn't give a choice to automatically delete backups older than a certain date while ensuring that you always have more than a set number (5 is more than enough for me) every time you open LR.

Bob_A wrote in post #16447495
A little more modern ... but similar. It's the only method that works though unless you want to go in the folder and delete them manually. I just click the icon on my desktop and it's done in less than a second. If I want I can also have Task Scheduler simply run it every couple of days automatically and then never worry about filling up my SSD with backups again.

I don't understand why Adobe doesn't give a choice to automatically delete backups older than a certain date while ensuring that you always have more than a set number (5 is more than enough for me) every time you open LR.

Or at least overwrite them by not putting them in dated folders. In the dialog that opens when you quit LR there is a navigation button. It would be simple to add an option to overwrite or use a unique name, same as when you write a jpg to a folder where one with that name already exists.

Bob_A wrote in post #16444095
I made a bat file using Notepad that I leave on my Windows desktop and click on any time I want to recover some SSD space (where my LR backups and Previews are stored). It deletes any backup older than 60 days.

Any chance if your don't mind, sharing the code for the Batch File....
It would be appreciated

I use this:
http://www.softpedia.c​om …yber-D-s-Autodelete.shtml
It automatically deletes all backups older than a month.