Eyedropper selects incorrect color from Color Library

TLDR: Ensure system display color profile is set to default. Adobe just can't help.

Want your color picker to select the EXACT swatch value from your libraries panel? Check your monitor or screen color profile, and ensure it is set to your system's DEFAULT color profile. This is the only way to fix this issue. If it's set to ANY other color profile, it will pick a color based on the colors displayed (Not the swatch value within the libraries panel). You may think by defining the swatch using RGB, Hex or Pantone values within your libraries, that Adobe's color picker will automatically pick the value as it's defined within the program. That's just not the case! All adobe color pickers are DEPENDENT on your screen's color profile.

I've been in contact with adobe's customer care team. Based on their syntax, Adobe's representatives are indian and so getting any official support is through a language and understanding barrier. I personally find this model destined for failure. Adobe is set on shrugging their shoulders over anything no matter what. They controlled my screen for hours updating programs, uninstalling programs, installing earlier versions of programs... Prying for irrelevant details like OS versions, graphics capacity and device information. That's all irrelevant to this issue, but still they will probably stress those points as much as possible to blame the user for just about anything. They may even tell you that you ** MUST ** update to the latest OS & program edition.

*** YOU DO NOT HAVE TO UPDATE ANYTHING. ***

If you go updating all your software to the latest, you may encounter legacy issues with your device. Mac devices become obsolete if you go upgrading software while using an older device. Windows devices just crash and burn if they are new OS on an old device. You'll basically throw away your computer by updating software. Always consult an expert before updating your computer's software and determine the risks and benefits. Adobe support is NOT an expert!

What's funny is Adobe literally never helped me arrive at the solution, after all the correspondance I've had over this issue, still never having received a clear explanation for anything. I had to review all 40 or so different color profiles on my own device, testing the color picker again and again. Once I determined this is the only way to make the color picker work, I shared my findings in detail via an email. The response I received was essentially a verbal shoulder shrug in broken english. 

"For the After effects color picker or color picker in Premiere pro or any application they usually picks or caliberates the color from display or OS usually that is why most of the colorist caliberates their displays to get the accurate and precise results."

Honestly, what does that even mean?? That's their idea of being helpful. Then, when I replied calling out their non-answer (as to which way exactly that the color picker works) a different adobe rep sent me MY OWN RESEARCH FINDINGS with a "hope that helps" sort of delivery.

The lesson is: they really can't help you, so you will have to help yourself.

Has anyone found a resolution to this? I just came across this issue recently when I got a new computer. My old laptop never had this problem and it's only happening in after effects. I have verified this in photoshop and illustrator...

My previous laptop is a Lenovo X1 xtreme as is my newer one, and the only differences I'm aware of are this one has a faster processor, but less RAM. I want to believe it's some sort of system setting in windows but why would it ONLY affect After Effects?

This has been driving me nuts. Here is the work around im doing: Making a super simple artboard in illustrator of the color swatches. Then importing that into my Ae Project and just making it a guided layer that I can pick from. 

I have an identical issue, and our entire team has had Havok due to this unsolved bug that appears across multiple releases of CC. A basic premise of working for clients is of course that you are handling brands in a way that is lossless to their established identity, therefore, your brand red MUST be identical to their brand red. When eye dropping across CC in after effects using CC Libraries as the eyedropper target, as well as PS, AI, and ID, we have gotten different values for every program. This is extremely expensive and destructive to try to manage across teams, destroying the core premise of adobe CC Library sharing with teams. It creates the need to name each palette addition in four stages pantone, rgb, cmyk, and hex, and then to name each of those palette thumbnails by their values such as 20/25/100 or what have you, or #efefef. Even having taken that time, we cannot rely on using the eyedropper tool to colour anything in the program, creating an unbelievable time suck from every workflow across every piece of software Adobe makes. What is maybe a "low on the list of issues" bug for their engineering team is indeed a fatal error to (one of) their platforms end goals: allowing us to make professional creative work more seamlessly and with less error/more efficiency. 

This is what mine is doing. No idea why it's doing it, I'm sure it will go away in a few updates, I am too busy to do much about it currently. I thought I would include a gif for a visual. This gif is a little wonky, the rest of my program works fine.

I'm now having this problem in AECC19.  This is nuts.  The library clearly shows Hex Code: #009AD7, but when I color pick it, it gives me #4898D2.  Sort of close... but no.  Our brand colors are very specific... and this could make a real mess of projects.  If I color pick something else on screen that is already #009AD7 it picks it fine.  It's picking every color from the library wrong.  Completely unacceptable.  That's the whole point of the library, and has always worked fine.  The color "looks" fine on screen, and matches colors elsewhere on screen in those colors.  It's just picking the color wrong from the library... which is attached to the HEX code. 

I have been having this problem for maybe three weeks and I hate it! Except my problem is, it doesn't even recognize the actual color, and just selects some variation of it.

I'll admit this is a crazy hack but could there be something to it?

It's possible to add a Note to a color in a library. What if you were to add the hex color code as a note to each of the colours. Any time you need a color you could edit the note, copy the color, and then paste it into the hex field of a color dialogue box.