Open an album in the Grid view, and then select one or multiple photos where you want to add color labels.
Last updated on
Jun 18, 2026
Explore how color labels help you visually organize and filter large groups of photos in Adobe Lightroom.
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Apply color labels to your photos
Right-click the photo, select Set Color Label, and then select the color you want to apply to the photo.
You can also apply color labels using the Set color label icon from the footer bar or from the Photo > Set Color Label menu.
To verify the color labels applied to your image, view the photos in Square Grid.
Modify color labels
Select Edit > Preferences > Color labels (Windows) or Adobe Lightroom > Preferences > Color labels (macOS) to open the Color labels settings.
You can also right-click the image and select Set Color Label > Edit color labels or go to the Photo > Set Color Label > Edit color labels menu.
To change the look of your Square Grid based on the color labels applied, select one of the following options from the Color Labels Background dropdown menu:
- Off: Turns off the color-label highlight in the Grid.
- Subdued: Displays a subdued version of the color label highlight.
- Vivid: Shows a more prominent color label highlight in the Grid.
In the Color Label settings dialog box, do any of the following to edit the color labels:
- Rename the color label in the Label field.
- Select a pre-defined keyboard shortcut from the Shortcut dropdown for the color label.
To add a custom color label, select Add color label and choose from a set of colors. You can add up to five custom color labels.
Note
When you delete a custom color label that is in use, the photos retain the assigned custom color, but the label name is removed.
Search and filter photos by color labels
Open an album in the Grid view and select the Refine Searchicon.
In the filter bar, select the desired color from the Color label options.
Tip
- You can create a Smart Album with Color Label as a criterion.
- Color labels currently sync only on Lightroom on desktop.
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