Script to delete layers by color or attribute

@Delta2487 

Yes, this is possible, however, the devil is in the details...

• What if a layer has a lock but no colour label (or a colour label but no lock)?
• Which lock type? There are 5 locking options... Is it "Lock All" or also one of the other 4 lock options?
• What about the special Background layer if present? This is locked and can't have a color label applied.
• What about layer groups? If a layer group had it's child layers deleted and therefore resulted in an empty group, should the group be removed?

As a starting point:
 

/*
Delete Unlocked Layers Without Color Label.jsx
Stephen Marsh
v1.0 - 27th May 2025
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/script-to-delete-layers-by-color-or-attribute/m-p/15341191
*/

// Single history step
app.activeDocument.suspendHistory("Delete Unlocked Layers Without Color Label", "main()");

function main() {
    deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(app.activeDocument.layers);
}

// Helper functions
function getLayerColorLabel(layer) {
    try {
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putIdentifier(charIDToTypeID("Lyr "), layer.id);
        var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
        var keyColor = stringIDToTypeID("color");
        if (desc.hasKey(keyColor)) {
            var colorType = desc.getEnumerationValue(keyColor);
            var colorName = typeIDToStringID(colorType);
            return colorName !== "none" ? colorName : null;
        }
    } catch (e) {
        // Unable to get color label
    }
    return null; // No color label
}

function deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(layers) {
    for (var i = layers.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
        var layer = layers[i];
        if (layer.isBackgroundLayer) {
            // Skip removing the Background layer
            // Comment out if you want to remove the Background layer
            continue;
        }
        if (layer.typename === "ArtLayer") {
            if (!layer.allLocked && getLayerColorLabel(layer) === null) {
                try {
                    layer.remove();
                } catch (e) { }
            }
        } else if (layer.typename === "LayerSet") {
            // First process child layers
            deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(layer.layers);
            // Remove empty groups
            if (layer.layers.length === 0 && !layer.allLocked) {
                // Comment out if desired
                layer.remove();
            }
        }
    }
}

EDIT: Updated, minor tweak:

 

/*
Delete Unlocked Layers Without Color Label.jsx
Stephen Marsh
v1.0 - 27th May 2025: Initial release
v1.1 - 12th June 2026: Added a conditional boolean flag for the suspendHistory step
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/script-to-delete-layers-by-color-or-attribute/m-p/15341191
*/

// Set to true to wrap execution in a single undoable history state, or false to run without suspendHistory
var USE_SUSPEND_HISTORY = true;
if (USE_SUSPEND_HISTORY) {
    app.activeDocument.suspendHistory("Delete Unlocked Layers Without Color Label", "main()");
} else {
    main();
}

function main() {
    deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(app.activeDocument.layers);
}

// Helper functions
function getLayerColorLabel(layer) {
    try {
        var ref = new ActionReference();
        ref.putIdentifier(charIDToTypeID("Lyr "), layer.id);
        var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
        var keyColor = stringIDToTypeID("color");
        if (desc.hasKey(keyColor)) {
            var colorType = desc.getEnumerationValue(keyColor);
            var colorName = typeIDToStringID(colorType);
            return colorName !== "none" ? colorName : null;
        }
    } catch (e) {
        // Unable to get color label
    }
    return null; // No color label
}

function deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(layers) {
    for (var i = layers.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
        var layer = layers[i];
        if (layer.isBackgroundLayer) {
            // Skip removing the Background layer
            // Comment out if you want to remove the Background layer
            continue;
        }
        if (layer.typename === "ArtLayer") {
            if (!layer.allLocked && getLayerColorLabel(layer) === null) {
                try {
                    layer.remove();
                } catch (e) { }
            }
        } else if (layer.typename === "LayerSet") {
            // First process child layers
            deleteUnlockedLayersWithoutColorLabel(layer.layers);
            // Remove empty groups
            if (layer.layers.length === 0 && !layer.allLocked) {
                // Comment out if desired
                layer.remove();
            }
        }
    }
}

1. Copy the code text to the clipboard
2. Open a new blank file in a plain-text editor (not in a word processor)
3. Paste the code in
4. Save as a plain text format file – .txt
5. Rename the saved file extension from .txt to .jsx
6. Install or browse to the .jsx file to run (see below)

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

If we can imagine it, it's highly likely that we can accomplish our need! The Adobe scribes, those robed, incense-burning, script-writing coders who lurk here, will be along with your solution, I'm sure, Delta.