Adobe Lightroom Classic & Lightroom CC System Requirements – What You Need to Know!

Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC have similar system requirements, requiring at least 8 GB of RAM, a GPU with DirectX 12 support, and 2 GB of VRAM. Lightroom Classic also requires a minimum of Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1903 or later or macOS v10.15 (Catalina) or later, while Lightroom CC requires at least Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1903 or later or macOS v10.14 (Mojave) or later. Both applications require a 2 GHz or faster processor, 1024 x 768 display resolution, and 2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation.

Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC are two of the most popular photo editing software programs on the market today. As you may already know, they are both powerful tools for creating stunning digital photos. However, it is important to understand the Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC system requirements to get the most out of these programs. 

In this detailed guide about Lightroom classic and Lightroom cc system requirements, I’ll explain everything you need to know about system building for running both these programs smoothly.

Note: The information provided below has been thoroughly checked by our Graphics Experts.

Minimum and Recommended System Requirements for Lightroom Classic For Windows and MacOS

System Requirements for Lightroom Classic For Windows and MacOS

Adobe Lightroom Classic is a powerful photo editing and management software used by millions of photographers around the world. Knowing your computer specs and what system requirements your device must meet in to use Lightroom Classic is essential in ensuring you cane Lightroom Classic without any trouble.

Here are the minimum and recommended requirements of Adobe Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic.

Minimum and Recommended Adobe Lightroom Classic System Requirements for Windows

If you want to use Adobe Lightroom Classic without any problems, you must have a computer that meets the minimum and recommended requirements set by Adobe.

In this section, I’ll list the minimum and recommended Adobe Lightroom Classic system requirements for Windows so you can figure out if your computer can run the software well.

 

Minimum

Recommended

Processor

Intel® or AMD processor (2 GHz or faster with SSE 4.2 or later, and 64-bit support)

Operating system

Windows 10 (version 20H2 or later) or Windows 11 (version 21H1 or later)

RAM

8 GB 

16 GB or more

Hard disk space

4 GB of available hard-disk space; additional space is required for installation

Monitor resolution

1024 x 768 display

1920 x 1080 display or greater

Graphics card

  • GPU with DirectX 12 support
  • 2 GB of GPU memory
  • 8 GB of dedicated GPU memory or 16 GB of shared memory for full GPU acceleration
  • GPU with DirectX 12 support
  • 4 GB of GPU memory for 4k or greater displays

Minimum And Recommended Adobe Lightroom Classic System Requirements For macOS

No matter how experienced you are as a photographer, it’s important to know what your computer needs to run Adobe Lightroom Classic at its best.

 

Minimum            

Recommended

Processor

A multicore Intel processor (2 GHz or faster, 64-bit support, and SSE 4.2 or later) or an Apple silicon processor (2 GHz or faster, and 64-bit support)

Operating system

macOS Big Sur (version 11.0) or later

RAM

8 GB

16 GB or more

Hard disk space

It is recommended that you have 4 GB of hard disk space available; further space is required during installation

Monitor resolution

1024 x 768 display

1920 x 1080 display or greater

Graphics card

  • GPU with Metal support
  • 2GB of GPU memory
  • Metal-enabled GPU
  • For full GPU acceleration, you’ll need 8 GB of dedicated GPU memory or 16 GB of shared memory
  • Displays with 4K or greater require 4 GB of GPU memory

If you have an Apple Silicon processor, you will need to have at least macOS 11 (Big Sur) and you may experience some performance issues when using Adobe Lightroom System Requirements with this processor. 

You can store images for Lightroom Classic on removable flash storage devices, but you shouldn’t use them as the main place to store catalogs and other Lightroom files because they might not work as well. 

GPU acceleration is recommended when using Lightroom Classic as it can significantly improve performance in Lightroom. NVIDIA GeForce, Quadro & AMD Radeon Pro WX series GPUs are highly recommended for GPU acceleration when using Lightroom Classic on both Windows and MacOS. 

So, if you want to use Lightroom Classic to edit photos and optimize your workflow like Photoshop, make sure your computer meets these system requirements.

System requirements for Lightroom CC For Windows and MacOS

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Adobe Lightroom CC is a powerful photo editing software that allows photographers to quickly and easily manage, edit, and enhance their photos. Lightroom CC is designed for both Windows and MacOS users, so you can use the same program regardless of your computer’s operating system. 

Minimum and Recommended Adobe Lightroom CC System Requirements for Windows

If you want the best results from Adobe Lightroom CC on a Windows PC, you should ensure your system meets Adobe’s minimum and recommended requirements.

 

Minimum

Recommended

Processor

A 64-bit Intel® or AMD processor that supports SSE 4.2 and has a speed of 2 GHz or higher is required

Operating system

Windows 10 (64 bit) version 20H2 or later

RAM

8 GB 

16 GB or more

Hard disk space

Installation and synchronization require additional free space on your hard drive; 10GB of available space is required

Monitor resolution

1280 x 768 display

1920 x 1080 display or greater

Graphics card

  • GPU with DirectX 12 support
  • 2GB of VRAM
  • Support for DirectX 12 on GPUs
  • Displays with 4K or greater require 4GB of VRAM
  • VRAM of 8GB for GPU-assisted preview generation and export

Minimum and Recommended Adobe Lightroom CC System Requirements for MacOS

Adobe Lightroom Classic works best and is smoothest when your Mac’s system meets both the minimum and recommended requirements set by Adobe.

 

Minimum

Recommended

Processor

Multicore Intel® processor with 64-bit support

Operating system

macOS Big Sur (version 11.0) or later

macOS Monterey (version 12)

RAM

8 GB of RAM 

16 GB recommended

Hard disk space

10 GB of available hard-disk space; additional free space is required during installation and sync

Lightroom will not install on case-sensitive file systems or removable flash storage devices

Monitor resolution

1280 x 768 display

1920 x 1080 display or greater

Graphics card

  • GPU with Metal support
  • 2GB of VRAM
  • GPU with Metal support
  • 4GB of VRAM for 4k or greater displays
  • 8GB of VRAM to enable GPU supported preview generation and export

GPU acceleration is recommended for optimal performance in Lightroom CC. This means having a graphics card with at least 2 GB of dedicated video RAM (VRAM). Popular GPUs from NVIDIA include the GeForce GTX 10 Series, GeForce GTX 16 Series, and GeForce RTX 20 Series. 

For Apple Silicon Processor users, please use the Apple A12Z Bionic or later. 

To download and set up Lightroom CC, you need at least 8 GB of free space on your hard drive. For best performance, an additional 50GB of storage is recommended. Please keep in mind that using USB drives, SD cards, and other removable flash storage devices will not be enough to keep Lightroom CC running smoothly. 

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Recommended GPUs to Run Lightroom Classic & Lightroom CC Super-Faster

When it comes to Adobe Lightroom System requirements, graphics processing units (GPUs) can significantly improve your photo editing performance in Lightroom. GPUs help Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC work better on Windows and MacOS. As with many other Adobe applications, like Photoshop, using a GPU can provide a significant performance boost when working with large image files. 

Top 3 Recommended GPUs for Adobe Lightroom CC & Lightroom Classic

If you’re still having trouble running Lightroom or other Adobe apps, you can also try connecting your computer to an external, removable flash storage device. This will give you more storage space and make your internal storage drive less busy, which could give you some extra performance gains.  

In summary, when it comes to Adobe Lightroom system requirements, having a dedicated GPU can make a world of difference in improving your performance in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC. 

Conclusion: Adobe Lightroom CC & Lightroom Classic System Requirements

Adobe Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic are both powerful programs for editing photos and keeping track of them. It is important to know the system requirements for running these applications so that you can get the most out of your Lightroom experience.

Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC have similar system requirements for Windows, MacOS, and mobile platforms. For Lightroom to work well, your computer must meet or be better than the minimum requirements set by Adobe.

You will also need the right operating system on your device and a way to save your files, like a USB drive or an external hard drive. Other specs that can help improve your performance in Lightroom include additional RAM, a faster processor, or an even better GPU than what is required.

Overall, when it comes to Adobe Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic system requirements, the key things to remember are having the right operating system, GPU, and hardware that meets or exceeds Adobe’s recommendations. This will help make sure you can use Lightroom just like you would with Photoshop while taking advantage of features like GPU acceleration for faster performance.

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