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Description: Describing our visual experiences improves their retention in visual working memory, yielding a labeling benefit. Labels vary, however, in categorical distinctiveness: they can be applied broadly or narrowly to categorize stimuli. Does categorical distinctiveness constrain the labeling benefit? Here, we varied the number of terms used to label continuously varying colors (Experiment 1) and shapes (Experiment 2). Participants memorized four items, and later recalled them using a continuous color or shape wheel. During study, participants articulated “bababa” or labeled the items with two, four, or their preferred term. Recall error decreased with increases in the number of labels. Mixture modeling showed that labeling increased the probability of recall. Memory precision, however, varied with categorical distinctiveness: broad labels reduced precision, whereas categorically distinct labels increased precision compared to no-labels. In sum, in-the-moment labeling activates categorical knowledge that facilitates the storage of visual details.