When I import photographs into Lightroom, I sort them by capture date and time and tell Lightroom to rename the files sequentially in that order. So the first image I shot should be numbered 0001, the next 0002, and so on.

Sometimes, however, Lightroom seems to number the files completely randomly. The first image by date and time may be numbered 0042, the next 0164, and the next 0006. I’m writing a quick post now because I finally figured out the solution to this problem and I want to share it with other photographers.

Of course, I searched extensively for an answer online. But although I found many forum threads in which photographers talked about their frustration with the same issue, no one seemed to have a definitive fix. There were even suggestions that involved reinstalling Lightroom and rebuilding Lightroom catalogues.

And then a week or so ago, deep into one of these threads, I spotted a tiny two-line remark from an Adobe engineer which said that when importing it was always better to select the source of the photos to be imported in the ‘Files’ section rather than in the ‘Devices’ section. There were no rapturous responses thanking him for this insight, but it does actually work.

With a card in a card reader connected to your computer, the Source section at the top left of Lightroom’s Import module will probably look something like this. You will be able to select the photos in two ways, either under Devices – for example F:\(YOUR CAMERA) – or under Files – for example, YOUR CAMERA (F:). Always choose the second of these two options, in the section of the Source panel headed ‘Files’.

If you use the ‘Devices’ option, your image files will be imported but any renumbering that you have configured may be completely out of sequence. Why this should be so remains a mystery. Is it a bug? Is it a feature?

If anyone has any further information on this issue, do please get in touch and let me know so that I can update this article.