How to Add and Use Tags in Windows 10?

Windows 10 has a powerful in-built search function, which allows you to locate a specific file in a matter of seconds. The Cortana allows you to find anything more quickly using smart filters such as file type and storage location. Alternatively, you can also use the File Explorer to know the name and/or the type of the file you are looking for.

This means that without it can be challenging to find a specific file without its correct name, especially when you are handling thousands of files. Fortunately, you can add tags to your files and improve the search speed in Windows 10. Furthermore, tags enable you to organize your files into categories without having to create several folders or renaming the files. This post will guide you on how to add tags and use them to search for files.

What are Tags in Windows 10?

Tags are simply keywords (metadata) that forms part of the properties of a file(s). You can use tags to categorize your files into projects, status or any other classifications. For instance, you can label your photos according to locations or events, mark your unfinished project documents and so on, simplifying file management in file explorer. You can use these tags to group related files or for a quicker search.

How to Add Tags in Windows 10?

Windows 10 supports tags for various types of files such as Microsoft Office files, images, videos and audios among others. There are three simple methods for adding tags:

Option 1: Adding Tags from “Properties” Dialog

• Open the directory/folder containing the files, click your file of interest and select “Properties” from the context menu.
• On the “Properties” dialogue, go to the “Details” tab and look for “Tags” in the “Description” section.
• Click the space beside “Tags” to activate text and type the tag. If you want to add multiple tags, names with a semi-colon and click “Apply” then “Ok”.

• You can also add tags to multiple files by selecting the files and then repeat steps 1-3 above and then click the “Ok” button.

Option 2: Adding Tags in Windows Explorer “Details Pane”

• To show the “Details Pane”, click the “View” menu and click the “Details Pane” option located at the left edge of the explorer toolbar.

• Select the files or multiple files that you want to tag and on the right-side panel, add the tag(s) on the text box next to the “Tags” heading. The click the “Save” button at the bottom of the file details.
• Note that if you are adding an existing tag, Windows gives you suggestion and you only need to check the box to add.

Option 3: Adding Tags in Save Dialog

You can add tags to your file such as Word document in the save dialog.

• Open the document, go to the “File” menu and click “Save” for a new document or “Save As” for existing documents.

• At the bottom of the “Save As”dialog window, click the space next to “Tags” and type the keywords of choice, then click the “Save” button.

Related: How to protect your Windows 10 PC?

Effectively Using Tags in Windows 10

Now that you have learnt different ways of adding tags in Windows. You can follow one of the easy ways that works for you. After adding tags to your files and folders, you can use the tags to search and get the results quickly.

Using Tags to Search in Windows 10 File Explorer

• Open the File Explorer by pressing “Win + E” keys.
• Click on the search box and then go to the “Search Tools” in the menu bar.
• Select “Other properties” to expand the options.
• Click “Tags” to allow Windows to reference tags when looking for the file.

• Type the tag and wait for Windows to search for files associated with the tag.
• For example, we can search for “Project 1” files, all files with work in progress, “WIP” or photos with flowering trees, “Flowering” and so on.

Using Tags to Group Related or Sort Files

• To sort the file using the tags, go to the “View” menu, click the “Sort by” arrow and check the “Tags” option.

• Click the “Group by” arrow and choose “Tags” to categorize related files. You can click to expand the different groups.

Using Tags to Filter Files in the Same Directory

• When working on a particular directory, you can filter the files using tags.
• First, you need to add the “Tags” column by expanding the “Add columns” option in view tools and then check “Tags”.

• Click the arrow beside the column header “Tags” and check the appropriate tags.

Final Remarks

To enhance your file management efficiency, you can add tags (keywords) to your file to help you search and find a particular file in file explorer. You can add tags to single or multiple files and use them to organize files into their respective categories or filter files within a folder. The above guide teaches you how to add and use file tags in Windows 10, but it is important to note that Windows support tags in selected file types. However, you can find third-party software that enables tagging of other file types.