How do I reset white balance settings in Premiere Pro?

March 5, 2026 · caitlin

Resetting white balance settings in Adobe Premiere Pro is a straightforward process. You can easily revert your footage to its original white balance or manually adjust it using the Lumetri Color panel. This guide will walk you through the steps to achieve accurate color correction for your videos.

Understanding White Balance in Premiere Pro

White balance is crucial for accurate color representation in your video footage. It ensures that white objects appear white, and other colors are rendered naturally under different lighting conditions. Incorrect white balance can lead to footage appearing too blue, too orange, or generally unnatural.

Why Resetting White Balance is Important

Sometimes, automatic white balance settings don’t capture the scene accurately. This can happen with mixed lighting or unusual light sources. Resetting allows you to start fresh, either by returning to the original camera settings or by applying a manual correction. This is especially helpful when you’ve made significant adjustments and want to revert.

The Lumetri Color Panel: Your White Balance Hub

Adobe Premiere Pro’s Lumetri Color panel is the central tool for all color grading and correction tasks, including white balance. It offers both automatic and manual controls. Understanding its layout is key to mastering white balance adjustments.

How to Reset White Balance in Premiere Pro

There are several ways to reset or adjust white balance within Premiere Pro. Each method offers a different level of control and convenience.

Method 1: Using the Basic Correction Tab

The Basic Correction tab within the Lumetri Color panel is the most common place to start. Here, you can adjust temperature and tint sliders.

Select Your Clip: First, ensure the video clip you want to adjust is selected in your timeline.
Open Lumetri Color: Navigate to Window > Lumetri Color to open the panel.
Locate Basic Correction: Within the Lumetri Color panel, find the Basic Correction section.
Reset Temperature and Tint: To reset to the original camera settings, you can often simply drag the Temperature and Tint sliders back to their default positions (usually 0). If you’ve made other adjustments in this section, you can click the small circular reset icon next to the "Basic Correction" title to reset all parameters within that section.

Method 2: Using the White Balance Selector Tool

This is a powerful tool for achieving accurate white balance quickly. It works by identifying a neutral gray or white area in your footage.

Open Lumetri Color: As before, open the Lumetri Color panel.
Find the Eyedropper Tool: In the Basic Correction section, you’ll see an eyedropper icon. This is the White Balance selector tool.
Select a Neutral Area: Click on the eyedropper tool, then click and drag on a part of your video frame that should be neutral gray or white. Premiere Pro will automatically adjust the Temperature and Tint sliders to make that selected area neutral.
Refine if Necessary: You might need to try a few different neutral areas or make minor manual adjustments to the Temperature and Tint sliders afterward for the best result. This tool is incredibly effective for correcting color casts introduced by specific lighting.

Method 3: Resetting Specific Lumetri Color Effects

If you’ve applied specific Lumetri Color effects and want to reset just those, you can do so directly within the panel.

Locate the Effect: In the Lumetri Color panel, you’ll see different sections like "Basic Correction," "Creative," "Curves," etc.
Reset Individual Sections: Each section has a small reset icon (a circular arrow) next to its title. Clicking this icon will reset all adjustments within that specific section. This is useful if you only want to reset white balance adjustments made within the "Curves" section, for example.
Reset the Entire Lumetri Effect: To reset all adjustments made by the Lumetri Color effect on a clip, click the circular reset icon next to the "Lumetri Color" title at the very top of the panel.

Advanced White Balance Techniques

Beyond simple resets, Premiere Pro offers advanced tools for precise white balance control.

Using Curves for White Balance

The Curves section in Lumetri Color provides granular control. You can adjust individual color channels (Red, Green, Blue) to fine-tune white balance.

RGB Curves: Adjusting the master RGB curve affects all colors.
Individual Channels: Select R, G, or B and adjust their respective curves. For instance, if your footage is too blue, you might slightly lower the blue channel curve in the mid-tones. This offers more nuanced control than just Temperature and Tint.

Creative Color Grading and White Balance

While the goal is often neutral white balance, sometimes a slight color cast can enhance the mood of a scene. You can use the Creative tab’s "Look" dropdown or adjust the Faded Film slider. However, it’s generally best to achieve a neutral white balance first before applying creative color looks.

Troubleshooting Common White Balance Issues

Even with the right tools, achieving perfect white balance can be tricky. Here are some common problems and solutions.

Mixed Lighting Scenarios

When your scene is lit by multiple light sources with different color temperatures (e.g., sunlight and incandescent bulbs), automatic white balance struggles.

Solution: Use the White Balance selector tool on an area that represents the dominant or desired light source. You may need to use secondary color correction tools to address the other light sources.

Footage Appears Too Blue or Too Orange

This is a classic sign of incorrect white balance.

Solution: Use the Temperature slider in the Basic Correction tab. Slide towards blue if it’s too orange, and slide towards orange if it’s too blue. Use the Tint slider to correct any green or magenta casts.

Resetting White Balance on Multiple Clips

Applying the same white balance correction to multiple clips can save time.

Solution: Adjust one clip, then right-click on it in the timeline and select Copy. Then, select the other clips, right-click, and choose Paste Attributes. Make sure to check the "Lumetri Color" option in the Paste Attributes dialog box.