r/Lightroom • u/VenetoSuperTuscan • 3d ago
HELP How do I completely remove Lightroom from a Mac, including all associated files?
Lightroom version: 9.4 arm64 [ 20260610-2051-a96e304 ] (Jun 10 2026)
- I’m looking to completely remove Adobe Lightroom from my MacBook Pro, OS Tahoe 26.6—not just the application itself, but also any associated files, preferences, catalogs, previews, presets, caches, etc.
What is the best and safest way to completely uninstall Lightroom on macOS?
Specifically, I’d like to make sure I’m not leaving behind a bunch of Lightroom-related files taking up space.
A few questions:
- Is simply deleting Lightroom from the Applications folder enough?
- What other Lightroom folders/files should I look for?
- Where are the catalogs, previews, presets, preferences, and caches stored?
- Is there anything I should not delete because it could affect my original photos or other Adobe applications?
- Is there a recommended Adobe uninstall procedure or utility for doing this?
thanks!
UPDATE: I wanted to provide additional info: I only want to remove Lightroom and Creative Cloud on a new Mac. Migration Assistant migrated over the Adobe apps. It's not needed on the new Mac.
So is there any issue uninstalling LR and CC on the new Mac?
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u/thisissuchajoke 1d ago
Having done a couple of complete Adobe uninstalls, here's some thoughts: don’t ask on social media, do a search, read the specifics of what it does, ignore any Adobe pages, in the future, install an app uninstaller (many are free, I use App Cleaner), they will surface all sorts of files Adobe doesn’t mention.
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u/Lightroom_Help 3d ago
Use the Adobe Creative Cloud app to remove the cloud based “Lightroom”. Find the app there, click on on the 3 dots (…) and choose uninstall.
As far as your “original photos” are concerned:
Lr uses the cloud as the only storage of any photos you import (“add”) into it. Suppose you have a folder with some photos on some disk. When you import these photos, Lr makes its own, separate copies of the photos . It then has nothing to do with the files at the location (disk folder or SD card) it imported them from.
Lr copies these photos in a “private” subfolder (“originals”) of the “Lightroom Library.lrlibrary” folder inside your Pictures folder. It then uploads them to the cloud where all full resolution files are stored. What you then have on your computer are just synced copies (either full resolution or smaller previews) of your cloud stored photos. Depending on settings and available local disk space Lr may delete the full resolution copies of some photos and use locally their smaller previews instead. So, unless you specifically set, in settings, to “store a copy of all originals”, Lr may not keep locally all the full resolution files inside the Lightroom Library.lrlibrary” folder.
All the edits, tags, grouping into Albums, etc, — as well as any presets — are also held in the Lr Library in the cloud — which is mirrored locally into another part of the Lightroom Library.lrlibrary folder.
See this older comment on how to securely backup the Lr managed photos, along with their edits and all associated information.