How to Sync Lightroom Mobile

Lightroom mobile is one of the most helpful features of Lightroom Classic. By using Lightroom mobile, you can work with your photos on the go. It allows you to edit, add, delete, and share your images from anywhere. To avail of these benefits, you should know how to sync Lightroom mobile, and that’s what I will show you here.

How to Sync Lightroom Mobile to Access Your Photos on the Go

In today’s fast-paced life, everybody wants accessible and mobile options to carry out their tasks. No photographer or designer wants to spend hours sitting in front of a desktop editing the images anymore. Moreover, I also want speedy options to share and access our data across various platforms and devices. 

All of this and a lot more can be achieved with the Lightroom working environment. It offers various applications through which you can easily work on your photos from anywhere and can share them across various devices. All you need to do is to establish a syncing connection between the different programs.

Differentiating Between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Mobile

Before starting with the procedure of syncing Lightroom mobile with Lightroom Classic, let’s first understand the difference between the two.  Lightroom Classic is the full version of the Lightroom program. It is designed to be used on desktops and laptops. On the other hand, Lightroom mobile is specifically designed to be used on mobile devices.

Where the Lightroom Classic is the complete application with all the functionalities integrated into it, Lightroom mobile has a comprehensive set of features with everything you need for working while being on the move. Once you sync the Lightroom mobile version with the Lightroom Classic, they can correspond with each other.

The activation of sync allows you to access, adjust, add, remove, and share your photos from anywhere and from any device. Below is a detailed guide on syncing Lightroom mobile so that you can easily use and edit your photos across all of your devices.

Syncing Lightroom Mobile

Let's look at the procedure of syncing Lightroom mobile. First of all, make sure to have one of the advanced versions of Lightroom. That is because the syncing feature is only supported in the Lightroom versions 8.2 and later. 

Once you have the free trial version or a paid subscription of the application, then follow the steps below for syncing:

1. Launch the Lightroom Classic application on your desktop. For this, you must ensure that you are connected to the internet. As you open Lightroom Classic, you might have to sign in if you are not already. Enter your Adobe ID and password. Now, click on ‘Sign in.’
2. Once you enter into the Lightroom workspace, you will see a screen like this:

3. Now, hover your cursor to the top left corner of your screen. Here, you will find your identity plate. Depending upon your settings, you will either see your Adobe ID, Lightroom Classic, or any other personalized title written over here. Here, you can see Lightroom Classic on my identity plate:

4. As you will hover your cursor over the identity plate, a small downward arrow will become visible next to it.
5. Click on this downward arrow. You will then see a drop-down menu. The first option will say ‘Sync with Lightroom.’ At this instant, it is turned off, as shown in the image below. So, you will see a ‘Start’ button next to it.

6. Navigate to this option and enable syncing by clicking the ‘Start’ button beside it. 
7. As you click on the start button, it will turn into a pause button, indicating that your syncing feature has now been enabled.

Syncing the Photos 

One of the best aspects of the Lightroom mobile sync is that it will not automatically make all your photos get synced. Instead, it allows you to have control over it. You can decide and select the photos that you want to sync, and only the photos you pick will be synced. Here are the steps to sync your photos in Lightroom.

1. Make sure to select the “Library” module, and then go to the “Collections Panel” present on the left side of your Lightroom workspace.

2. Here, you will see all the image folders present in your Lightroom collection.
3. Click on the collection that you want to sync. The selected collection will be highlighted with a light gray color. 
4. At this point, you will see a double pointing arrow beside your selected collection. This is the icon for syncing. It shows that this collection is now being synced with Lightroom mobile. 

5. In case you are unable to see the double-sided arrow, the chances are that your desired image folder is not added to your Lightroom collections. So, first, you will have to add it to your Lightroom collection.
6. If you want to stop the sync of the selected folder at any point, you can easily do that as well. Simply click on this double pointing arrow and select “Stop Syncing” in the resulting dialog box.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Get the Lightroom Mobile Application?

To get the Lightroom mobile application, all you have to do is go online and download it just like you download other applications or programs. You can have the Android version, the iPad version, or the iPhone version, depending upon your mobile device.

How Can I Access the Synced Photos on Mobile?

To access the synced photos on mobile, you have to meet some requirements. The two prerequisites of accessing the synced photos on your mobile include:

• Enabling the sync feature from your Lightroom Classic program.
• Install all the required Lightroom apps and plugins on your mobile device.

Once you have fulfilled both of these prerequisites, you can easily access the synced photos on your mobile by following these steps:

1. Simply launch the Lightroom mobile app on any of your mobile devices through which you want to access the synced photos.
2. Sign in to the app using your Adobe ID and password. 
3. Follow all the important instructions, which will be asked of you according to your mobile device. 

After this, you will be able to see, use, edit, and share all the photos that you synced through your Lightroom Classic application.

How Can I Access the Synced Photos on Desktop?

The Lightroom Classic desktop version allows you to access all your synced photos in one place. To access the synced photos on the  desktop, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Folders Panel, which is present on the left side of your Lightroom screen.
2. Navigate to the folder with the name of your mobile device.
3. All the synced photos can be seen within this folder.

How Can I Share Images Using Lightroom?

You can easily share the synced photos using Lightroom Classic as well as Lightroom mobile. To share synced images, follow these steps:

1. Firstly, make sure that you have an internet connection.
2. Now, click on the Share button present on the top right corner of your Lightroom screen.
3. You will then see various sharing options, depending upon your mobile device settings and the related applications that you have on it.

Can I Use the Lightroom Mobile Sync Feature in All the Lightroom Versions?

No, the Lightroom mobile sync feature cannot be used on all Lightroom versions. It is only available in the Lightroom Classic 8.2 and the later versions.

Conclusion

The process of syncing Lightroom mobile is fairly simple, short, and straightforward, but it provides amazing benefits. From the ability to edit your photos anywhere to the power of sharing them across different platforms, it will certainly become a staple of all your picture editing needs.