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Earlier in the year I shared some of my favorite Develop module shortcuts with you (click the link to read the article). Today I’d like to share my favorite Library module shortcuts.
With a bit of practice it’s much easier to navigate around Lightroom Classic using keyboard shortcuts than it is to click with a mouse. These are the ones I use most often and I thought you’d like to know what they are.
I’ve also linked to other articles that help you learn more about some of the techniques mentioned here (all links open in a new tab so you don’t lose your place in this article).
Library module keyboard shortcuts
G – Press the G key to go to Grid View. Works from anywhere in Lightroom Classic, not just the Library module.
Learn more: Take Control Of Lightroom Classic’s Grid View
Return or Space – Go to Loupe View from Grid View. Use this (or F to activate full-screen mode, see below) when you want to see a photo large.
Learn more: Six Hidden Features Of Lightroom Classic’s Loupe View
N – Opens the selected photos in Survey mode. Bizarrely, this works even when you’ve selected just one photo.
Learn more: How To Use The Lightroom Classic Survey View
Tab – Hides the left- and right-hand panels from view. Gives you more viewing space. Also works in the other modules.
Note: If one panel is already open, the first press of the Tab key opens the other panel, and the second hides them both. Press it again to show both panels.
Shift-tab – Hides the left- and right-hand panels from view, plus the Module picker and Filmstrip. Gives you even more viewing space and also works in every module. Use the shortcut again to bring back both panels, the Module picker and Filmstrip.
Learn more: How To Customize The Lightroom Classic Workspace
Cmd-E (Mac) | Ctrl-E (PC) – Opens the selected photo/s in Photoshop.
F – Activate full-screen mode. This hides the Lightroom Classic interface and is the best way to view photos without distractions.
Further shortcuts in full-screen mode: Use the left- and right-arrow keys to cycle through the photos in your selected Collection or Folder.
If you’ve selected two or more photos, the arrow keys cycle through the photos in the selection instead.
Press F again or Esc to return to the previous view.
P / X / U – Use these keys when culling photos. P marks a photo as a pick (marked by a white flag). X marks a photo as a reject (marked by a black flag and grayed out when it’s not selected). U removes a white or black flag (it’s like an undo for the P and X keys).
Learn more: How To Organize Your Photos With Lightroom Classic Collections
Cmd-N (Mac) | Ctrl-N (PC) – Create a new Collection. Even more useful, select two or more photos, then use Cmd-N | Ctrl-N to make a new Collection that includes those photos. You have to check the Include selected photos box in the Create Collection window for this to work.
Cmd-A (Mac) | Ctrl-A (PC) – Select all the photos in the selected Collection/s or Folder/s.
Cmd-D (Mac) | Ctrl-D (PC) – Deselect all photos. Useful if you want to start again with making a selection.
V – Converts the selected photo to black and white so you can visualize what it looks like in mono. This is a straight grayscale conversion, so it doesn’t show you the true potential of your black and white photo, but it gives you an idea. Press V again to convert it back to color.
You don’t lose any of your Develop module settings when you use the V keyboard shortcut, all it does is change the Profile to Adobe monochrome then back again.
Learn more: How To Develop Better Black & White Photos In Lightroom Classic
B – Add selected photo/s to the Target Collection (or the Quick Collection if no Target Collection set).
Cmd-B (Mac) | Ctrl-B (PC) – Show the Target Collection in the Collections panel and open it. This is useful if you’ve forgotten which Collection you’ve designated as the Target Collection. This is most common when you haven’t used the Target Collection for a while.
Cmd-Shift-E (Mac) | Ctrl-Shift-E (PC) – Export the selected photo/s.
Learn more: How To Export Photos From Lightroom Classic
T – Show/hide the Toolbar. Works in every module.
\ – Show/hide the Filter bar.
Learn more: How To Find Photos In Lightroom Classic With The Filter Bar
Cmd-’ (Mac) | Ctrl-’ (PC) – Make a Virtual Copy of the selected photo/s. Useful if you want to convert a photo to black and white, or develop a photo in a different way without losing the original.
Learn more: 5 Smart Ways To Use Virtual Copies In Lightroom Classic
Cmd-[ or ] (Mac) | Ctrl-[ or ] (PC) – Use the square bracket keys with Command or Control to rotate photos. Useful if Lightroom Classic doesn’t orientate imported photos correctly.
Cmd-G (Mac) | Ctrl-G (PC) – Group the selected photos into a stack.
Cmd-Shift-G (Mac) | Ctrl-Shift-G (PC) – Remove photos from selected stack.
Cmd-Shift-C (Mac) | Ctrl-Shift-C (PC) – Copy all Develop module settings from the selected photo.
Cmd-Shift-V (Mac) | Ctrl-Shift-V(PC) – Paste all copied Develop module settings to selected photo/s. This is a quick way of batch processing similar photos, or seeing whether the settings used for one photo will work on another.
Cmd-/ (Mac) | Ctrl-/ (PC) – Show a list of commonly used keyboard shortcuts. There’s too many to list here (that’s why I limited it to the ones I find most useful) but you can use this to get a list of commonly used shortcuts.
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