There is a number of logs files which are generated into the “DxO PhotoLab 2 logs” directory in my home directory (Documents).
I have not found any parameter in the preferences of PhotoLab 2 to change the logs directory location. Is there a way to change that ? If not, is it possible to completely disable the generation of log files ?
Thanks in advance for your hints
You will find detail explanation here (look for user John-M entries):
The concern expressed by the OP is not about the .dop/sidecar files but about the log files generated by PhotoLab. These log files are created in the user’s document directory for a Windows installation.
So, is it possible to change that?
Regards,
Joseph
Indeed, I misread the OP question. To my best knowledge: no, you can not change the location or disable the log files.
HOWEVER: why would someone want to change the location? I would also question the logic behind disabling the logs. They are very small text files, one can read and analyze them in case of some issues. Occasionally DxO support may also like to see them to help debugging (there is also a folder with DxO crashes reports).
As a size example: on my system one year of log files and crash logs consume approximately as much space as one out of the camera JPEG (obviously this depends on how much processing one does, what JPEG files, etc., etc. - this is only to illustrate).
Log files are only useful for developers, not for end-users.
On an other point of view, the “Documents” folder is here to store real user documents, not every utility file. If every installed application application would store here its utility files, we maybe could end with a Documents folder with more than “foreign” files than files created by the user.
Note than on Linux, such files are created under the user’s profile, but in hidden folders. However, on Windows, %APPDATA% or %LOCALAPPDATA% could be a better location. A lot of application also store their own files directly under %USERPROFILE%, without polluting the Documents folder.
In my case, the space used by the logs is not really a problem. However, since my Documents folder is backuped and synchronized on different servers, logs files have nothing to do here.
Though I understand your reasoning, I disagree. I believe the answers to your two original questions are: no and no.
I use Photolab4, and still the logfiles er placed in my Documents folder. I don’ want them there. I would like to delete that folder automatically on logon. Would that affect any functionality in Photolab 4?
Dear @Polarigel,
at the moment there is an actual discussion with similar questions and answers here
best regards and enjoy Christmas days
Guenter
Thank you for pointing me to that real interesting discussion- I actually didn’t know that Photolabs has a database functionality.
But unfortunately it doesn’t solve my problem. The database is stored in a folder under %AppData%, and this location can be changed. The log files are stored in %My Documents%, without possibilty to change the location.
Is it possible to delete all log-files without compromising Photolabs functionality?
Yes, you can delete the log files … they’re created for problem solving purposes.
Regards, John M
Thank you!
The log files are gone and won’t come back (automatic delete on logon)
Polarigel
How did you set up automatic delete on logon?
Thanks, Jim L
I found a way to move the Log folder to another place on PhotoLab4 on Windows :
Edit %ProgramFiles%\DxO\DxO PhotoLab 4\LogConfig.nlog (you may need to copy in a temporary folder, and then copy the the file into the DXO Installation, files under ProgramFiles are protected and requires an Administrator rights prompt to by updated).
Just edit the line 3 by changing MyDocuments to LocalApplicationData :
The complete available locations are available in the NLog library Wiki
I hope it can help
This is an old topic now but I now have the same problem with OneDrive. A simplest solution is to stop OneDrive sync while using PL.
Hurrah! This particular ‘feature’ of Photolab has annoyed me forever. To me, putting system stuff in ‘My Documents’ is just plain wrong and now I discover that not allowing the user to change this location is not because of programmatic / coding difficulties, it’s just another example of DxO’s apparent gallic arrogance because it’s actually trivial to change the location.
The available locations appear to be more wide ranging than that list. It seems that it can be any folder. Which is great for me as I have all my ‘system files’ (MS Office templates, Firefox profile, etc.) in subfolders under a root folder on my (separate) data drive. My DxO log files are at last where I want them to be. 
I know it’s an old thread but yeah this bothered me too. Logs do not belong in the user’s Documents folder. In over 30 years of using PCs I have never encountered software that puts logs in the Documents folder. That’s what Local AppData is for.
This is undesirable behavior when users Documents folder are often synced to some sort of cloud. Luckily editing the LogConfig.nlog worked, so thank you for that solution.
It’s quite puzzling that this is still not changed in 2025.
I refer you to my comment about apparent arrogance.
NB every time there is a PL update, you have to reapply this workaround because the update restores the DxO way…
I don’t know enough about DxO, I’ve only used the software for few months, to accuse them of arrogance. It could be an oversight or something simply very low on their priority list or perhaps simple human laziness. Though little things like this should eventually get to the top of the list and get fixed, the original post dates six years ago.
Note that AppData is a hidden directory and not shown in FileExplorer, unless you manually enable access. That doesn’t look like a right thing to do for more than 90% of users. Hence putting logs in subdirectories of Documents looks like a rational choice.
For the same reason some software (Capture One, Hasselblad Phocus,…) puts user data into subdirectories of the Pictures folder.
Yeah, I have an app like, Photoscape X, this that creates edited images backups in the Pictures folder. Which is another annoying and unwanted behavior. That is not what the Pictures folder is for, just like Documents is not the a rational place for logs. And you don’t have to “manually enable access” to access AppData. Any support agent worth his paycheck should be able to guide a user there by typing the path in Explorer, it’s not rocket science.
Like I said above, in 30 years I have not seen any software put logs in Documents folder.