Mavericks ’s Finder tatter feature gives you the ability to impute labels and keywords to your Indian file and folders , which is a mighty o.k. thing if you ’re organizationally inclined . However , disregarding of how keen you are on the idea of tag your file , the process ask time and elbow grease , especially if you intend to tag the intimately unnumerable file already on your Mac .
That does n’t mean that Finder rag should become Mavericks ’s “ Mission Control”—a have that can be helpful , but that few people tinct . Rather , tagging requires a meter of willandsome tools and techniques to make it as light as possible . Let ’s start .
Use Smart Folders to find old files worth tagging
If you have thousands of file cabinet on your Mac and the idea of tagging them all makes you vile , take a cryptical breathing time . You just postulate to be a minuscule chic about the task . Focus only on those data file that really matter , because you want to more easily call up them at a later time . Smart folders can help you receive the content you ’re after .
In the Finder , chooseFile > New Smart Folder . In the resulting window , tick the positive - sign ( + ) clitoris next to the Save push button near the top of the window . This creates your first condition . How you configure that condition bet on the kind of content you seek . you could , for deterrent example , specify a file cabinet case , documents that contain certain words , files created on a specific day or within a period of time , or files you ’ve pose in a particular locating .
For model , doubly a week I make entry for my Mac 911 column . Each of those entries is save in some kind of text edition format — SimpleText , Plain Text , or BBEdit textual matter . Each check the wordshe writes : orshe writes : . So , I create a bright leaflet that contains filing cabinet that cope with these term .
To do that , I click the plus - sign ( + ) clit and configure the precondition to readKind is Otherand then typetext documentin the field to the right wing of the condition . I then hold down the selection keystone as I click the positive - signboard ( + ) button again to create a conditional condition — one that allowsanyof the following conditions to act upon ( but does n’t demand that all of them must be met for the pamphlet to serve ) . The next line readsAny of the following are true . The first of these circumstance readsContents stop “ she writes:”(with the quotation mark , please , as the quotation mark tell the stipulation to explore for those specific words ) . I then click this stipulation ’s plus - sign ( + ) button to make a second experimental condition , which readsContents contain “ he writes:”(also with the quote ) .
The resulting windowpane fills with my Mac 911 files . I now select them all , click theTagsbutton in the window ’s toolbar , enterMac 911 , and pressReturn . In a short while , all the filing cabinet are tag as I ’ve directed . I can now shut that smart folder window without saving it , chatter the Mac 911 launching that come out under the Tags heading in a Finder window ’s sidebar , and see a inclination of all my Mac 911 single file .
To make spotting those files even sluttish it behooves me to assign a biased tag to them . To do that I can only Control - sink in or decently - click the Mac 911 tag that now come along in a Finder windowpane ’s sidebar and , from the contextual menu that appear , choose a colour other than None — redness , for instance . A cherry dot will be appended to each of these file disregarding of which perspective I pick out — ikon , list , column , or Cover Flow . And should I bid to rename that ticket at a later time , it ’s just as easily done . Again , Control - click or right - get through the tag in the sidebar , chooseRename “ Mac 911”,and inscribe a novel name in the now - spotlight airfield .
The legerdemain to this trick is finding elements coarse to documents for which you wish to put a common tag end . In some cases you may require to take a broad approach . For object lesson , the absolute majority of the Excel documents you create might be for body of work . Create a search for just those kind of document and then , in the resulting list , take only those file that are related to your piece of work and apply the appropriate rag .
Use Mavericks’s many built-in tagging options
ascribe tags to old Indian file is enough of a chore that you may not be incisive to do it every few weeks . A skilful coming is to develop the use of tagging as you go . There are several ways to do that as you work .
Tag when you save : For model , when you save a file , take advantage of the Tags field that appear in Mavericks ’s Save dialogue boxful .
Drag to tag : If you neglect to add the shred when you save , locate the file in the Finder and drag it on top of the appropriate tag in a Finder windowpane ’s sidebar . It will espouse that shred .
Use an iCloud shortcut : In an applications programme that support iCloud , such as Apple ’s TextEdit , click the little trigon that appears next to the document ’s name in the windowpane ’s deed stripe and from the windowpane that appear , add the ticket in the Tags field .
dominance - click ( or right - click ) to track : you’re able to also operate - click ( veracious - clink ) an detail in the Finder and choose a tag from the result contextual menu .
Tag from the File computer menu : Select one file or more in the Finder and chooseFile > Tagsand apply the ticket in the window that appear .
Create a rag crosscut : One thing that can make that last point a bit gentle is assigning a keyboard shortcut to the Finder ’s Tags command . To do that , launch System Preferences , select theKeyboardpreference , click theShortcutstab , click theApp Shortcutsentry , and then penetrate the plus - sign ( + ) clit near the bottom of the windowpane .
In the sheet that appears chooseFinderfrom theApplicationpop - up menu , enterTags … in the Menu Title playing area . ( You must utilise an ellipses character by beseech Option - semicolon rather than typecast three period . ) put down a keyboard crosscut in the flying field of the same name — something like shift key - Control - T — and clickAdd . Now when you choose an detail in the Finder and imperativeness this keyboard shortcut , the Tags window will seem .
Turn to a third-party
maverick ’s tagging features are approachable to third - parties and as the workweek roll past , we ’ll see greater numbers of applications take advantage of them . As I write this , Noodlesoft ’s $ 28Hazelcan add tags to files as part of a rule . I ’ll explain .
Hazel works a little bit like Automator ’s folder action . Meaning that when you lend an item to a folder , Hazel can do things to that detail . In this specific font , you could configure a rule that total particular tags to items tot to the folder . Here ’s an good example of a simple rule that will track any future Mac 911 columns I compose .
I create a fresh leaflet on my Mac ’s background and call it Mac 911 . I set in motion Hazel , click theFolderstab , click the plus - sign release at the bottom of theFolderslist , and then click the plus - sign push below theRulesarea . In the canvas that appear I create a rule that reads :
If all of the conform to stipulation are met :
Any File
Add tags Mac 911
ClickOKand the rule is attached to the Mac 911 folder I ’ve created . Now , just as with a folder action , when I tangle any particular to this booklet , that point will adopt the Mac 911 tag . If I find to drag a folder full of items to a pamphlet like this , I can tag everything within that folder by adding aRun rule on folder contentsaction to my regulation .
This Hazel approach helps with two issues . The first is that it compels you to organize your work into folders if you do n’t already . And the 2nd is that , in the operation , you’re able to tag your files . It ’s a winner all around .
The future of Finder tags
Ultimately the solution for good Finder tagging will come in the form of a instrument that can examine a file ’s live metadata — the information Spotlight habituate to assist you locate filing cabinet — and make educated guesses about chase after your files ground on the metadata they hold . For example , If file cabinet X hold metadata Y then assign it tag Z.
Until that solvent comes in a mannikin that does n’t wildly mis - rag your files , these tips should help .
