Ac hallenge in anion control in periodic solids is to preserve the crystal lattice while substituting for different anions of widely varying sizea nd hardness.P ost-synthetic modification routes that place cations or anions in nonequilibrium configurations are promising;h owever,s uch methods remain relatively unexplored for anion placement. Here,w er eport the synthesis of LaOI nanocrystals by an onhydrolytic sol-gel condensation reaction and their transformation into LaOBr,LaOCl, and LaOF nanocrystals along hardsoft acid-base principles using post-synthetic metathesis reactions with ammonium halides.A nion displacement proceeds along halide planes,p reserving the tetragonal matlockite structure.E nergy-variant X-raye xcited optical luminesce signatures of alloyed Tb 3+ -ions is asensitive quantum reporter of the preservation of the cation sublattice and hardening of the crystal structure upon anion replacement.