Hello, my name is Erin.
I'm a professional copy editor who shares writing tips for the real world on my blog at ErinWrightWriting.com.
This video shows how to use tags in Microsoft Word.
Specifically, we'll look at three ways to add tags to Word documents.
First, we'll add tags through the Backstage view.
Second, we'll add tags through Advanced Properties.
And third, we'll add tags through Save As.
Then, we'll look at how to delete tags in Word documents.
Finally, we'll search for known and unknown tags through the File Explorer in Windows.
The times for each section will be listed in the description box below
for those who would like to skip ahead.
I'll be using Word for Office 365, which is currently the same as Word 2019.
The steps are the same for Word 2016 and similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.
However, your interface might look slightly different.
Before we begin, let's tackle an important question:
What are tags in Word?
Tags are custom keywords attached to Word documents and other files that help with search and organization.
Tags can be any word, phrase, or number string related to the file,
such as product names, item numbers, internal file codes, or project nicknames;
basically anything that may help you locate the file later.
To add tags to Word files through the Backstage view,
begin by selecting the File tab in the ribbon.
You'll probably already be in the Info tab by default, but if not, select the Info tab.
Then, select "Add a tag" in the property section.
The text will become a text box.
Type your tag or multiple tags separated by semicolons in the text box.
Note that if you separate tags with commas instead of semicolons,
Windows will view them as one tag and won't provide an accurate file search.
When you're done, save the file in order to save your new tag or tags.
In this section, we're going to add tags through the Advanced Properties dialog box.
Begin by selecting the File tab in the ribbon,
followed by the Info tab in the Backstage view, if you're not there already.
Now select the Properties heading,
and then Advanced Properties in the drop-down menu.
Next, select the Summary tab in the Advanced Properties dialog box.
Type your tag or multiple tags separated by semicolons in the Keywords text box.
Note that the term "keywords" means "tags" in this dialog box.
When you're finished, select the OK button to close the Advanced Properties dialog box.
Notice that the tags now appear in the Properties section of the Backstage view.
Save the file in order to save your new tag or tags.
Now let's add tags through the Save As dialog box in Windows.
Begin by selecting the File tab in the ribbon,
and then select the Save As tab in the Backstage view.
If your document has previously been saved, select the More Options link to open the Save As dialog box.
If your document hasn't been previously saved, select Browse, instead, to open Save As.
Note that you can also use the shortcut F12 or Function + F12
to open the Save As dialog box from anywhere in Windows, including from Word's main view.
In the Save As dialog box, type your tag or tags separated by semicolons in the Tags text box.
If you haven't done so already, name your file
and select the destination where you want to save the file.
When you're finished, select the Save button.
The following steps show how to delete tags attached to Word files.
These steps should work regardless of the method used to add the tags.
However, they won't work on files marked as "Read Only" or similarly protected.
To begin, select the File tab in the ribbon,
followed by the Info tab in the Backstage view, if you're not there already.
Delete the unwanted tag or tags in the Property section.
When you're finished, save the file in order to save your deletions.
In this final section, we'll use Windows File Explorer to search for tags when you know the tag or tags specifically.
Then, we'll look at how to search for tags when you don't know the exact tag or tags you want to search for.
To search for known tags, press the Windows key + E on your keyboard to open the File Explorer.
Type the word "tag" and a colon followed by the tag name in the File Explorer search box.
The results will appear as you type.
To search for unknown tags,
once again press the Windows key + E on your keyboard to open the File Explorer.
Navigate to the folder containing the files you want to search in the File Explorer.
If the Tags column isn't already displayed, right-click on the column heading section
and select Tags from the drop-down menu.
Next, select the menu arrow on the right side of the Tags column header.
And then select the tag or tags you want to search for in the drop-down menu.
The results will appear as soon as you make your selection.
The transcript for this video appears on ErinWrightWriting.com,
which is linked below along with my Microsoft Word playlist.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a question
about Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat that you'd like me to address in the future.
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Thank you so much for watching!