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Import photos and videos in Lightroom for mobile (Android)

Last updated on Sep 4, 2025

Lightroom

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Add or import photos and videos from your phone's Gallery or from a connected DSLR camera.

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Follow along with any project to learn how to edit photos in Lightroom.

Open Lightroom

Access photos from your device gallery

Lightroom for mobile (Android) instantly allows you to edit locally stored photos in Lightroom. When you launch the Lightroom for mobile app, navigate to the Gallery tab to view all the photos stored on your mobile device. To view photos organized in albums, select the drop-down and navigate to the specific album of your choice.

Once you select a photo in the Gallery tab, it will directly open in the Loupe view (one single photo on the screen) for you to make editing adjustments and apply features like Presets, Masking, and more.

Note

When you edit a photo from the Gallery tab, it will automatically appear in the Lightroom tab, and an icon with a small pen will appear at the lower-left side of the photo in the Gallery view.

How to import multiple photos in the Gallery view

To import photos from the Gallery tab to the Lightroom tab, long-press on a photo to select the ones you want to import. From the bottom menu bar, select Import. Lightroom for mobile gives you the option to:

Import into Lightroom: You can only import the photo into the Lightroom tab without making any edits
Import & add to Lightroom album: You can add the photo to a specific album in the Lightroom tab

Delete photos in the Gallery view

To delete photos from the Gallery tab in Lightroom for mobile, long-press on a photo to select the ones you want to delete. From the bottom menu bar, select Delete. Lightroom for mobile will bring up the Hold On! alert to confirm if you wish to delete the photo.

When you delete a photo from the Gallery tab, it is permanently deleted from your mobile device as well.

Auto import photos and videos

You can automatically import any new picture from the Camera Roll, Gallery, or other locations on your phone. You can also choose the formats - JPG, HDR, PNG, Videos, and Raws.

Tap at the upper-left corner of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) window.
Select Preferences > Enable Auto Add.

Preferences
Enable the Auto add from device and select the formats and location options.

JPGs / PNGs

Select this option to import JPGs and PNGs only.

Videos

Select this option to import videos only.

RAWs

Select this option to import raw images only.

Import from all locations

Select this option to import photos and videos from all the folders on your device. Turn off this option to manually select the device folders from which Lightroom can import photos automatically.

Add or import photos and videos from a Camera connected in PTP mode

You can import photos (including raw images) and videos from your DSLR camera into Adobe Lightroom for mobile (Android). You can do it by connecting your mobile device in (PTP mode) to the DSLR camera using a supported USB OTG cable.

Connect your Android mobile device with the DSLR camera using a supported USB OTG cable.

Note

For importing photos into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile on Android devices that have a USB C-type connector, Adobe recommends using a USB C-type OTG cable instead of C-type adapters to connect the DSLR camera.

In the Notification bar of your Android device, tap the USB connection notification that appears after connecting your camera.
In the app picker on your Android device, choose the Lightroom app for the connected USB device.

Note

If your Android device does not show the app picker and always opens the USB connection with another app installed on your Android device, you need to clear that app as the default app in your device Settings.

For more details, see Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues in Lightroom Classic.
The Lightroom Import screen now displays the thumbnails of all images from the plugged in camera.

You can tap the Options icon () on the upper right corner to choose the image display and selection options:

Select All

Selects all the images displayed in the import interface. This option is enabled once all the thumbnails of the images from the plugged-in camera are loaded.

Select None

Deselects all the selected images displayed in the import interface.

JPGs / PNGs

Displays JPG and PNG images only from the plugged in camera.

RAWs

Displays raw images only from the plugged in camera.

Videos

Displays videos only from the plugged in camera.

Note

If you want to exit the import interface and not add any photos to the album, tap the Cancel icon at the upper-left corner.

Import interface displaying a star (*) icon on the RAW badge of thumbnails indicating that you need to sign in with your Adobe ID to edit these raw photos.

Note

When launching Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) for the first time and importing photos from a plugged in camera without signing in, the import interface displays a star (*) badge on the thumbnails of certain raw photos. The star badge indicates that you need to sign in to the Lightroom app with your Adobe ID to edit these raw photos.
Tap the photos and videos that you want to import into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) to select them.
When you've selected all the pictures and videos you want to import, tap Add at the lower-right corner of the screen.
In the next screen that appears, choose an album from your existing Lightroom albums in which you want to import the selected photos and videos. By default, All Photos album is selected.

To import the selected photos into a new album:
1. Tap the (+) icon at the upper-right corner of the screen.
2. In the New Album dialog, type a name for the new album, and tap OK.
3. In the Lightroom Import screen, tap to select the new album that you've just created.
Once you've chosen an album, tap Copy at the lower-right corner of the screen.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) begins copying the Originals (original image files) from the plugged in camera to your Android device.

The Copy to Lightroom dialog displays the progress and notifies you when the copying process is complete. At this point, you can unplug the connected camera.

If you want to cancel this copying process:
1. Tap the Cancel icon in the Copy to Lightroom dialog.
2. In the Cancel Copying dialog, tap Cancel to confirm. Otherwise, tap Continue.
Once the copying process is complete, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) begins importing the copied images into the selected album.

In the Notification bar of your Android device, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) displays import notifications about the progress and completion status.

Note

You can continue to use the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for mobile (Android) while the import process runs in the background.
Pause or resume the import process

To pause/resume the import process:
1. Tap the three-dot icon at the upper-right corner of the screen.
2. In the context menu, tap the pause icon to pause the import. Tap the play icon to resume the import.
3. To stop the import, tap stop icon in the context menu.

Import photos and videos using Files

Using the Files option in Lightroom for mobile (Android), you can access Android's file-manager to import photos from various sources:

Other supported photo apps and cloud-based apps installed on your device , such as Google Photos, Google Drive, and Dropbox.
A DSLR camera connected to your mobile in PTP mode via USB OTG cable.
Another plugged-in device connected to your mobile via USB.
Your device's folders

To import using the Files option, do the following:

Open the All Photos album or any other album where you want to add the photo. Select the three-dot icon > Add Photos > Gallery or Files.
Android's file-manager now opens on your device. In the file-manager, tap () icon at the upper-left corner choose a source from where you want to import the photos and navigate to the required folder.
Select one or more images from the selected source. Then, select Done or Open.

Lightroom for mobile (Android) now begins importing the selected images.

The import progress and completion status is displayed in the Notification bar of your Android device.

Note

To view your recently imported photos, go to the All Photos album. In the All Photos view, tap the three-dots () icon at the upper-right corner of the screen and choose Sort By Import Date. Your recent imports now appear at the top.

Add to Lightroom from third-party photo apps

You can directly add photos to Lightroom from other apps like Google Photos. To do this, follow the steps below:

Open a photo that you want to import from another app on your device. Select the photo and select the Share option.
Navigate through the list of apps to select Lightroom.
Select Lightroom to add the photos to your Lightroom for mobile app.
Launch the Lightroom app and select the Lightroom tab. Select the drop-down to find the newly added photo in Lightroom.

Note

To learn how to import photos into Lightroom on your iPad, iPhone, or desktop, see Import photos in Lightroom for mobile (iOS) and Add photos in Lightroom (desktop).

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