How to Use Tags on an Apple Mac: Add and Remove Finder Tags
To add a tag on a Mac, select a file or folder in Finder, open File in the menu bar and choose a color under Tags; to remove it, choose Remove for that color. You can add several tags to one item.
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In brief
AI summarymacOS has built-in colored tags that work like email flags to organize files and folders, and one item can carry more than one tag.
To add a tag on a Mac, select the item in Finder, go to File and choose a color under Tags, or right-click it, use the Add tags toolbar button or drag it onto a color in the Finder sidebar.
To remove a Mac tag, select the item, go to File and choose Remove for the tag color, or right-click, use the toolbar or Action menu; tags can also be set from the Save dialog.
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Everyone has a different way of keeping things organized. The nice thing about macOS is that Apple offers you a handy, built-in feature called "tags" that can help you organize your files and folders. Tags are colored and are similar to the flags you use in an email app to highlight important messages. If you are new to using tags on Mac to organize your files, take a look at how to use this useful feature effectively.
How Do You Use Tags on an Apple Mac?
Adding a Tag to a File or Folder
You can add a tag to any type of file, such as a text file, ZIP file or image. You can also add tags to folders. Note that you can add more than one tag to the same file or folder. This lets you tag that item for multiple purposes. For example, you can use a blue tag for work-in-progress items and a green tag for financial documents. You can add both tags to an ongoing financial document for your company.
- Open Finder and select the file or folder you want to tag.
- Go to File in the menu bar.
- In the Tags section, choose a tag color.
- Like many other tasks in macOS, there is more than one way to tag an item. You can also do any of the following:
- Right-click the file or folder and choose the color to add under Tags.
- In the Finder toolbar, select Add tags, choose the color and press Return.
- In the Finder toolbar, select Action and choose the color to add under Tags.
- Drag a file or folder onto a color in the Tags section of the Finder sidebar.
- You also have the option to tag an item when you save it. At the top of the Save dialog, choose a color from the Tags field just below the Save As field.
With all the tagging methods above, you can also select multiple files or folders to tag them all at once.
Removing a Tag From a File or Folder
After you add a tag to an item, you may decide to remove it. Maybe the tag was added to the item temporarily or no longer applies.
- Open Finder and select the file or folder you want to remove the tag from.
- Go to File in the menu bar.
- In the Tags section, select Remove for the current tag color.
- As with adding a tag, you have a few other ways to remove one.
- Right-click the file or folder, choose the tag color and select Remove.
- From the Finder toolbar, select Add tag, remove the color at the top and press Return.
- In the Finder toolbar, select Action, choose the tag color and select Remove.
If you have more than one tag attached to an item, you can remove the one you want if you do not want to remove both.
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How Do You Use Tags on an Apple Mac?
You can add a tag to any type of file, such as a text file, ZIP file or image. You can also add tags to folders. Note that you can add more than one tag to the same file or folder. This lets you tag that item for multiple purposes. For example, you can use a blue tag for work-in-progress items and a green tag for financial documents. You can add both tags to an ongoing financial document for your company. With all the tagging methods above, you can also select multiple files or folders to tag them all at once.
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