How to Stop Cloud Sync in Lightroom Desktop And Mobile.
Lightroom Mobile is without a doubt one of the best mobile phone editors for Android and iOS. With all the heavy editing tools and stuff, the most frustrating thing about this is cloud sync. It runs in the background, deleting your previews. And when you open the app again, you have no idea where the images went. I understand that the entire Adobe Suite is built on the Adobe cloud environment. But it would be better if they made it possible to stop cloud syncing. So, here’s how to stop cloud syncing in both Lightroom for desktop and mobile.
How to turn off Cloud Sync in Lightroom Desktop
If you don’t need cloud functionality, you’re better off using the old classic version of Lightroom 2015. But if you’re using Lightroom 2019, there is a way to stop cloud syncing in the Creative Cloud app.
Open the Adobe Creative Cloud app, go to the Creative Cloud tab and go to the Files tab.
Read: 9 Tips & Tricks for Using Lightroom Mobile Like a Pro
On the Files tab, you can turn off Creative Cloud Sync by unchecking the corresponding checkbox. This will disable cloud sync and files will not be deleted locally.
How to turn off Cloud Sync in Lightroom Mobile
Unfortunately, there is no way to turn off cloud sync in Lightroom on mobile. But as always, there is a workaround and you can use a third party app. Since no editing tool in Lightroom Mobile is internet-dependent, we can safely block the internet for the app to stop syncing to the cloud.
To block the Internet for the Lightroom mobile app, you can do so by turning off Internet access permission in the Settings section, or by using a third-party app. The latter comes in handy when you need granular control over Wi-Fi and mobile data.
Since Android doesn’t natively allow users to restrict internet access for an app, you’ll need a firewall. I prefer NetGuard, a non-root firewall, but any firewall application will work. Once you’ve installed the app, open it and first it will ask you for permission to create a VPN. Android firewalls usually work by creating a local VPN. You can read our article on Best Android Firewall Apps to learn more about Android Firewall Apps. After you grant the required permission, you will be presented with a list of installed applications as shown below.
From the installed app screen, navigate to the Lightroom app and tap the Wi-Fi and cellular icon. This will disable Internet access to Lightroom over both Wi-Fi and cellular.
After you’ve turned off the internet, open the Lightroom app. Now when you import photos into Lightroom, cloud sync will stop working. This way, Lightroom won’t delete the photos, and you’ll get a full-resolution preview.
The downside of this is that you will inflate the phone’s memory with files and edit settings. In addition, you will not be able to directly post the uploaded files on social networks, since Internet access is blocked. So, for every post on Instagram, you will need to export a photo and share it from your phone gallery.
Final Words
Lightroom is without a doubt one of the best editing tools for mobile devices. One of the best features is seamless cloud sync across devices. If you have multiple devices with Lightroom installed, cloud sync makes sense. For everyone else, this is how you can prevent your images or previews from being deleted locally.
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