When dealing with a lot of files and folders, especially with nested folders, you can use tags to better manage all those file and folders. Tagging files can make the file management and finding the content you need easy. Here are some of the best file tagging software for Windows to get you started.
Best File Tagging Software for Windows
1. Windows File Explorer
Did you know that Windows file explorer has a built-in file tagging feature? Now, there are limitations on which files you can tag on Windows. You can only tag media files and documents. Also, file tagging works only in NTFS file system. So, as long as your file tagging need is simple, you can use the built-in file tagging feature in file explorer.
To tag files in File Explorer, right-click on the file and select Properties. Now, go to the Details tab. Add the tags of your choice in the Tags field. Click on the Ok button to save changes. As you can see from the below image, I’ve added Windows Hero Wallpaper as the tag. You can add multiple file tags by separating them with ;.
To find a file with a tag, use tag:YourTag in the file explorer search bar. Don’t forget to replace YourTag with the actual tag name.
Price: Not Applicable.
2. Tabbles
Tabbles is a feature rich and one of the best file tagging software for Windows 10. With Tabbles, you can tag any file type in Windows. Developers designed Tabbles to be easy to use all the while giving you proper tools to better tag and manage files and folders. Once you tag the files, Tabbles makes it easy to find the file you are looking. Tabbles also has an auto-tagging feature which automatically tags files based on file types and folder structure. If needed, you can create powerful rules using regular expressions for auto-tagging.
Other features include but not limited to the ability to combine and remove tags, tag priorities for workflow, tag hierarchies, etc.
Of all the features, the one I like is that Tabbles preserves the tags even if you move to file explorer. The user interface is clean and easy to use too.
If you are looking for a full-fledged file tagging software that has a ton of useful features then Tabbles is for you.
Price: Tabbles is free to use for up to 5000 files and 15 auto-tagging rules. To remove the limitations, you can subscribe to one of their monthly or yearly plans.
Download Tabbles.
3. RecentX
RecentX is yet another simple yet useful file tagging software for Windows. With RecentX, you can tag folders and files with just a few clicks. In fact, all you have to do is select the file or folder, click on the Tags option and enter the tags of your choice. After tagging the files and folders, you can search them as and when needed.
The best thing about RecentX is that it is much more than a file tagging software. RecentX can search for files faster than windows all the while making it easy to navigate between files and folders.
If you constantly deal with scattered files and folders or have deeply nested folders, RecentX can make your life a lot easier with its management and search functionality. Other features of RecentX include but not limited to clipboard manager, ability to search for browser history and bookmarks, etc.
Price: RecentX is premium software that costs a one-time $29.95.
Download RecentX.
4. Tag Explorer
Tag Explorer is a dedicated file tagging software available via the Microsoft store. Using Tag Explorer, you can tag any number of folders and files. Once tagged, you can easily find the tagged files using the built-in search functionality or by selecting checkboxes. Depending on file types and usage, Tag Explorer has some pre-defined to tags. For instance, to manage movies, it has genre tags.
Most of all, since this is a Microsoft store app, the installation is clean and you don’t have to worry about updates.
Price: The app is free but to use some features, you need to in-app purchases.
Download Tag Explorer.
5. FileTag
FileTag is an awesome-looking Microsoft store app to tag files in Windows. Using FileTag, you can create custom tags with their own color and then assign them to the files and folders as and when you need. Now, compared to other software in this list, using FileTag is not that intuitive. i.e. adding files and folders can be a drag. However, if you like a simple application that lets you color code tags, then FileTag is a great application. Add to that, the user interface is clean and modern too.
FileTag features include the ability to set reminders, dark theme support, Windows Hello support to protect the application, semantic zoom, etc.
Price: The base version is free but you are just limited to one tag. For unlimited tags, you need to purchase the pro version for $0.99.
Download FileTag.
How to Tag Files in Windows
If media and documents are your main concern, then the built-in tagging feature in File Explorer is mostly good enough. On the other hand, if you want a full-fledged file tagging software that has all the bells and whistles then Tabbles or RecentX is the way to go. Looking for Microsoft store app and don’t mind lack of advanced features? Try Tag Explorer or FileTag.
That is all. Hope that helps. If you know any other best file tagging software, then share it in the comments form.
I am surprised that Windows Live Photo Gallery is not mentioned. Whereas I have not put it to use, I did poke around, and it seems to suffice in being able to assign multiple tags, to tag multiple images at one time, and to be able to search (I think) throughout the computer for files having a certain tag. One detractor is that it seems that windows has already set tags based on filename, most of which aren’t tags that I’d want to end up using. But the application is already there on the computer. I like the looks of “tabbles” but don’t know if it would put an overhead on PC functionality.
I never knew that. Thanks for letting me know. I will take a look at it.
We have just released a new app for Windows 10 that uses hierarchically-ordered tags, or tag trees, to help you organize your files! It combines the flexibility of tags with the logical structure of nested folders. The app is called Ritt and you can check it out at https://ritt.app
I need to mark my pdf collections within my folders in terms of importance, on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings would be displayed in a separate column, within a File Explorer-like interface.
To explain: I am a writer. I do research. Some pdfs are useful, others not. I organise them by author, but I also want to categorise them and to sort them by usefulness rating, ie, by a rating that I assign. Usually I use a simple numerical rating which makes it easy to sort the files.
I believe Windows File Explorer can do this for most file types, but it can’t do it for pdfs.
I do not need cross-folder support, tabbed browsing, double displays.