To utilize embedded previews in Lightroom, you essentially instruct Lightroom to use the previews that are already embedded within your camera's RAW files, rather than building its own from scratch. Here's how you manage preview settings, impacting whether embedded previews are used:
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Access Preferences: Open Lightroom Classic's preferences. On Windows, this is under the "Edit" menu. On macOS, it's under the "Lightroom Classic" menu.
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Navigate to Performance Tab: In the Preferences dialog box, go to the "Performance" tab.
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Adjust Camera Raw Cache Settings: Within the Performance Tab, pay attention to the Camera Raw Cache settings. While there is no direct setting to "turn on embedded previews" explicitly, Lightroom uses embedded previews by default when it imports the photos initially. The faster rendering you are looking for from embedded previews comes at import. Lightroom will create it's own previews as you work in the Library and Develop modules.
Important Considerations:
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Embedded vs. Standard/1:1 Previews: When importing, Lightroom initially uses the embedded JPEG preview generated by your camera. As you work with images, Lightroom will generate its own previews (Standard, 1:1) for better detail and editing performance.
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Preview Size Matters: The size of the previews generated by Lightroom influences performance. Larger previews (1:1) can slow down the browsing experience, but provide more detail when zoomed in.
