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Lightroom CC Hidden Search Operators

PhotoJoseph's picture
March 21, 2019 - 5:00pm

Lightroom CC is missing many of the filtering tools we know from Lightroom Classic… or, is it? Turns out, many of them are hiding in plain (text) sight!

Filtering in Lightroom CC

In Lightroom you have “filters” and you have “search”. When you open the filter tab, you can filter by star ratings, flag status, image type and a few more things. In the screenshot below, I've clicked on the Camera list, and it's showing me the results of my entire library (meaning it's not showing me cameras that I've never taken a photo with before).

You can filter and search in Lightroom CC — and each offers unique capabilitiesYou can filter and search in Lightroom CC — and each offers unique capabilities

But there's a LOT missing. If you compare to the old Lightroom Classic metadata search, there were many, many more options. And they seem to be missing here! 

Or, are they?

Searching in Lightroom CC

Just above the filter bar is the search field. As you start typing something like “birthday”, you'll immediately see any folders or albums listed with “birthday” in the name, and almost as quickly you'll see images that Adobe Sensei (that's the AI search that Adobe has built) thinks have something to do with a birthday. But you'll notice that there are other search operators you can type in that will give you metadata results, too.

If you type one of the magic words followed by a colon, you'll immediately see the search results, like this:

f-stop:

You can search Lightroom CC by f-stop (aperture)…You can search by f-stop (aperture)…

lens:

You can search Lightroom CC by lens…You can search by lens…

…and many more! I've compiled a list, which I'll update as I discover new ones. If you know of any I've missed, please note them in the comments below and I'll add them in!

Lightroom CC Search Operator (Search Terms) List (updated 2019-03-19)

Type the operator followed by a colon, such as “album:” or “location:”

Search OperatorListed Results

Album

Lists names of albums and folders
CameraLists all cameras found
EditedNo / Yes
F-StopLists all apertures found
Shutter Speed Lists all shutter speeds found, including a “fast”, “medium” and “slow” preset
Focal LengthLists all lens focal lengths found, including a “telephoto”, “normal” and “wide” preset. However I've found that older photos may not have that EXIF field properly filled, so searching by lens may give more results.
FlagUnflagged / Rejected / Picked
FlashNo / Yes
ISOLists all ISOs found, also “High ISO” (≥1600 ISO), “Medium ISO” (320 to <1600), and “Low ISO” (<320)
KeywordLists all manually-entered keywords
LensLists all lenses found
LocationLists all locations tagged
OrientationHorizontal / Vertical / Square / Panoramic
Rating1–5 stars
TypeImage / Video

Remember, if you know of any others, please tell me in the comments below!

Level:
Advanced
App:
Adobe Lightroom Desktop & Mobile (CC)
Platform:
macOS iOS Android Windows
Author:
PhotoJoseph

Hi Joseph,

It works indeed but in English only. I have the French version of Lightroom CC and if I type “lentille:” or “lentilles:” it gives me nothing. I have to type “lens:” in English for the search to works.

On the other hand, Adobe Sensei search works only in french. If I type “eau” it gives me all my pictures where there is water but is I type “water” in the search bar it comes up with nothing.

Thanks

Normand Cloutier

Montreal

 

 

 

 

Normand Cloutier

Hi,

@Joseph : Thanks for these information, it’s really helpful! It seems these information aren’t on Adobe support website, I don’t understand why. 
Here are two other search operators that work with the last Lightroom version (august) :

  • focal length : Lists “Telephoto”, “Normal Focus Length”, “Wide Angle”, plus all focal lengths found
  • people : Lists all people found

@Normand : you can also search with french operators. To know how the english operator/facet is translated, type the english one and you will see just below the french word(s) you can use. See the following example (lens => objectif).

I’m using Lightroom cc (and occasionally LR for the web) and I wondered if anyone knows how to search for photos for which you’ve neglected to add any keywords.  I believe this was available on LR Classic, but Adobe seems not to have felt that it was popular enough to include with these newer versions.  Am I missing something?

tmcgrory

Thanks for the post! You are a life-saver as I am not familiar with LR CC mobile :D 

Another useful search term is ‘shutter speed:’ - hope this helps someone too

'Screenshot of search results for ‘shutter speed:’

Instagram: @jacquelinecsg
www.invertigo-studios.com

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I'll update the list. 

@PhotoJoseph
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