White balance eye dropper doesn’t work

[Richard2528171672cr]

White balance eye dropper tool doesn't always work. Sometimes while editing I want to white balance several photos in a row, so I press "w" to turn on the white balance picker and go frame to frame. Sometimes, when I do this and mouse I've the image, instead of getting the eye dropper tool, the mouse cursor stays on zoom. The eye dropper icon in the color section is highlighted, but clicking in the image only zooms. By clicking around, sometimes I can get it to work again, but usually I have had to quit and restart Lightroom. This is on Windows 10 with an Nvidia 2060 GPU and a Logitech 305 Bluetooth mouse. 

[Troy26739606qs9a]

I have this same exact problem, I haven't figured out how to fix it at all yet. 

[Emma K Alex]

I have the same issue on my 14" M1 Pro Macbook Pro

[Kyle27155130c9ok]

I'm having this problem as well on my MacBook Pro with Ventura OS.  Only way I can get the dropper to come back is to close out and re-launch LR. SUPER irritating.

[Lukasop]

Same here. LR 6.2 / windows. Hate this issue:/

[OneDeadPixel]

ve had an issue with the white balance picker tool for years! Every so often when I choose it, and go to use it, it gives me the zoom tool and no matter what I do, I cant pick the white picker tool, it gives me the zoom tool everytime!

This tends to start happening when I import a large number of high res pics, say 400 - 500 and the first 30-50 or so grade fine (I build a present, then copy it to images and tweak accordingly). Once it happens, I have to restart Lightroom and then can sometimes do anything between 10 - 50 images again before the issue reoccurs. 

Its been listed on this forum previously and someone posted with a similar issue just recently. For reference, this was in Lightroom CC 5.4 and just upgrade to 5.5 and has occured for the last few years repeatedly and every upgrade, I hope its a bug thats fixed but always returns. I even reformatted this PC last year hoping to fix it!

Below is a video of the issue happening. As you can see, the white balance picker works fine but at about 18s, you no longer can click it and the tool is stuck in the zoom mode. (FYI, for some reason the screen record has a slight mouse offset but safe to say I was definitely clicking on the icon!)

https://vimeo.com/767790389/0f7b6bfe84

[Lukasop]

Same here - Lightroom 6.2 / windows.

[SavariaMarie]

Same thing is happening to me. I have to close out of lightroom and reopen it to get the eye dropper to work. 

[James29504337oow5]

Same issue here, why is no one from Adobe addressing this? There are threads on similar topics going back years. Really frustrating to have to restart Lightroom every 5 minutes

[Christopher29564763lrc6]

Same in June 2023, MacBook Pro M2. Lightroom CC version 6.4.

[Peyben]

July 2023 I have the same problem

[MaPolizzi]

Has this been resolved yet? I am having to closeout lightroom nearly every other image to have it available again

[OneDeadPixel]

Unfortunately not, Ive had to live with this bug for years, and its at the point if another bit of software was released that could grade images, even without a lot of the Lightroom tools, I'd defo give it a go, because Adobe just get worse year on year for not caring or wanting to fix bugs, clearly evident when you look at the dates on these posts!

[lumenmediagroup]

Same. Macbook Air M2. August 2023, Lightroom Version 6.5

[Darren331485651pya]

I'm also having the same problem on a new / fresh install of latest version of Classic as of Oct. 2023 on a Win 11 Home OS.   The only way I've found to get it back is to exit and re-start LR.

What a PITA.

[nycabrcndiel]

I don't know what glitch it is but I've noticed after you select the eye dropper tool and then just click ctrl on windows the picker comes back up on the screen.

[nicolasb65954032]

For everyone with Mac having this issue with getting the zoom tool instead of the eye dropper when selecting it i just hit Option on the keyboard and the eye dropper selection comes right back

[CTaylor PRO]

I recently encountered the same issue with the color picker eyedropper malfunctioning and turning into a zoom selector in Adobe lightroom software on my M2 Air. Fortunately, your workaround that effectively resolves this problem. Here are the steps I followed:

1. Ensure the eyedropper tool is deselected and appears grayed out.
2. Press and hold the Command key.
3. Click on the eyedropper tool.
4. Release the Command key.

This method acts as a temporary solution, allowing the eyedropper to function properly. I've observed the issue often arises when copying color settings between images with the eyedropper selected, often resulting in the tool changing to a zoom icon. Implementing this quick 'hotkey-ish' fix has proven to be an effective workaround for now.

[Becky Scheible]

I have been having this problem for years, and this worked for me! Much easier than restarting Lightroom. Thanks for the tip! 

[Juha35260803utnp]

Incredibly arrogant from adobe to not fix thisa lthough this has been known for a year now.

[Scott27233382qhvg]

It is driving me nuts. They can introduce all this AI but yet not fix this needed tool that  has a baisc error in it's script. Seeing how long the issue has been known, this is how one loses customers. 

[frantic24]

On a Mac, after selecting the White Balance Dropper, hit the COMMAND key once or twice. It should toggle the DROPPER back from the Zoom tool. 

[ericn46738786]

this is the answer. Thanks frantic

[RobA1701]

Same on Windows 11. I have to quit and restart.