Want to find something in a hurry? Tag it with a search tag in Windows 11 and make life easier for yourself in the future.
Most users will enter keywords that match file titles to find images, documents, videos, and music on their Windows PCs. However, there is a different, more flexible way to search for files in Windows 11. You can instead add tags to files that will help you find them better.
A tag is a kind of metadata you can add to some file formats in Windows, which is like a label. Windows 11’s search tool indexes tag metadata for files. Here is how you can add tags and find files with them in Windows 11.
File Explorer is Windows 11’s folder navigation app. That app includes most of Windows 11’s file management options. You can add tags within Explorer by adding them to files’ metadata in their properties windows like this:
Note that you can’t add tags to every file format. If you can’t see an Add a tag box in the Details tab for a file, it’s an unsupported format for tagging.
Now hover the cursor over the file you applied the tag. The tooltip will appear that includes metadata for the file. You’ll see the tag you added to the file within the tooltip info.
When you’ve added a few tags to files, you can search for them with their new labels. You can find tagged files with Windows 11’s and File Explorer’s search tools. This is how to find your tagged files with both search utilities:
To use Windows 11's default search tool:
If you prefer to use File Explorer's search bar instead, do the following:
You don’t need to input the tags: operator when searching for a tag from inside its folder. If you know the tagged file is in the folder you’ve opened in Explorer, you can enter the tag instead. Then Explorer will find files with both tags and titles in the folder that match your search query.
Only a limited number of file formats support Explorer’s tagging. PNG and PDF are among the widely utilized file formats for which tagging isn’t supported. However, you can extend tag support to those formats and many others with the File Meta Association Manager software. That’s freeware software for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista with which you can add metadata handlers as follows:
Tag Explorer is a third-party app for Windows with which you can add tags to files quickly and easily. That app enables you to browse through files by selecting tag checkboxes for them. This is how you can tag your files with Tag Explorer:
Now you can find that file within Tag Explorer by clicking in its search box and entering the tag there. Tag Explorer will display files that include matching tags. You can open any file found with your default software by double-clicking it in Tag Explorer’s search results.
You can also select checkboxes for all other tags you’ve added to browse through associated files. To do so, press the View tags button. Tag Explorer will then display a checkbox list of all tags you’ve added within the app. Select a tag checkbox there to view its associated files.
Tagging files enhances their search flexibility. You can add the same tags to multiple files to search for and find groups of interrelated files more efficiently. Or you can add multiple tags to a single file so you can find it with more search keywords. So, adding search tags to files will give you a better way to find them in Windows 11.
Jack has been a freelance tech journalist for more than a decade. He has covered Windows Vista, 7, 10, and 11 topics within a multitude of guides for Make Use Of and numerous other websites.
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