Windows expects you to remember where a file lives. While working on a follow-up article, I needed data from my earlier test notes, but I had no clue which folder it was in anymore. I typed writing and pitch tags into TagSpaces, and the document showed up.
That search made finding files depend less on remembering paths. I’d tried a few File Explorer alternatives before, but once I started tagging files and folders I already had, I also stopped creating new subfolders just to keep things organized.
Searching across locations File Explorer treats separately
The Desktop was empty, and the result came anyway
Searching from “This PC” in File Explorer is supposed to cover everything, but on my laptop it takes so long that I cancel it almost every time before anything shows up. Narrowing it down to a drive or even location made it faster, but by then, I was already trying to half-remember where things were.
TagSpaces is a free, local-first file manager that lets you tag files and folders, and search across everything in one place. You can tag documents, images, files, and even folders, then filter by those tags to quickly access what you need. I added my D drive locations alongside the C drive locations it already came with, for broader reach. So I started tagging.
It searches differently too. I did my first search with Desktop open and empty; I set the search scope to global and selected draft or high in the At least one field filter. Three folders and seventeen files appeared from other locations, so the empty Desktop didn’t matter.
The search panel lets me specify tags that must all match, tags where any match is enough, and tags I want to exclude. That gives me a way to narrow down the results without opening folders one by one.
I also built my own tag groups to search with, like MUO for writing, draft, pitch, and approved, and another for video editing work. Searching +YouTube returned eight video-editing folders.
The labels sit inside the filename
TagSpaces gives you two ways to tag a file. The sidecar method stores the tag in a hidden .ts folder next to it. The rename method writes the tag straight into the filename, in square brackets. That turned blender-4.1.1-windows-x64.msi into blender-4.1.1-windows-x64[editing].msi. I went with the rename method.
To see whether the tags depended on the app, I closed TagSpaces and searched File Explorer for editing. It found the installer and two script files, because the tag was now part of each filename. Then I moved a tagged PDF from Downloads on my D drive to Documents on C and searched for s-tier in Explorer, and the PDF showed up right there. The PDF carries five tags, and they moved with it.
Windows also has a tags filter in Explorer, so I tried tags:s-tier search, and it returned nothing, even after I narrowed it to the exact location the file sits in. The filename clearly had [s-tier] in it, and plain search had found the PDF. The Explorer’s filter and TagSpaces’ bracketed names don’t talk to each other.
A week without new folders
Too many results meant adding a tag, not opening a folder
Most of my file setup used to run on autopilot. Open a location, make a new subfolder, move files in, and repeat. Since I switched to using TagSpaces, I’ve gone just over a week without making a new subfolder. I tagged my documents, PDFs, Word files, editorial files, and media.
When I need one, I type a tag and get everything I’ve marked with it. If that’s too many results, I add another tag to narrow it down. If it doesn’t help, I remove it.
I stopped moving between locations to find things. I just search and sort what comes back. I also use advanced search filters to combine tags instead of relying on a single word. Searching didn’t take long. It also made reaching and organizing my files feel faster, and TagSpaces on its own was enough for both.
- OS
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Windows, macOS, Linux
- Price model
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Free, Premium
The folders I kept
I tagged my existing subfolders instead of getting rid of them
Folder tags don’t show up in Explorer the way filename tags do. I tagged folders inside TagSpaces, but their names on disk stayed the same. Downloads still shows Android_Dex_Windows and LUTs without any bracket tags. When I searched for editing in Explorer, it found three tagged files but none of the three tagged folders. TagSpaces found all six.
TagSpaces felt overwhelming at first, although it became easier to use once I’d set up my locations and tags. Adding a location took about 20 seconds to index. The rename method also makes filenames longer, especially when a file carries four or five tags.
The tags that matter outside TagSpaces are the file tags, which sit in the filename and survived the move. I steered clear of system and program files because I rarely open them unless I have to, and I don’t want to tag just because.
Where I’d start
If you work out of a few locations and forget which folder holds what, add the one you open most to TagSpaces and tag ten files you reach for often. Then search by those tags instead of opening folders until you find the right one.
Use the rename method so the tags stay in the filenames. You don’t have to abandon folders to make this useful. In my case, tags gave me another way to reach what was already there.