Labels / Tags questions

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Labels / Tags questions

I've been using a Mac since 1985 and have only recently begun to explore the use of colored labels and text tags. It seems to be a daunting task though it shouldn't be (it's me, I know).

Looking in the Finder Preferences pane where you can add and edit tags, my list of tags is well over 300, and I have no idea how they got there. The list is too long and the choices are 99% unuseable for me. I selected All and selected Delete, but they remain untouched. How do I go about removing this list so I can begin creating tags that are meaningful to me.
I created a tag and named it Alpha, colored it blue. I tagged a number of .mobi files with that tag. Later, I used the Finder's Search, and entered Alpha. At no time did a dropdown Alpha section appear, so I couldn't locate those files tagged Alpha. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you,

Tod

iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Feb 17, 2022 3:01 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,758 points

Feb 17, 2022 3:41 PM in response to TodFromIndiana

The tags get there as files you download from the internet frequently come with tags attached. That will continue to be a problem going forward. You can remove tags selecting them and right clicking and selecting delete. Command-click will allow you to select more than one.

Did you include tags in your search?

In the Finder: Command - f brings up the search window. At the drop down where it says 'Kind' click and select 'Other'

A window of search terms opens. Select Tags and click the box to include it in the menu.

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Answer 2

Feb 17, 2022 7:43 PM in response to Yer_Man

@Yer Man

Thank you for explaining how so many tags populated that list. Your second sentence implies that users simply can't turn off tag collection. ☹️🤬

I tried your suggestion for deleting tags but, while Finder did display a pop-up stating that they were being deleted from a huge number of files, they didn't disappear from the Tags list. It's that list that I want to eliminate so that tags I create will be manageable (side complaint: so many of Apple's windows of lists such as this or the list of startup items lack the ability to expand downwards to display a larger number of options). Is there a possible way of cleaning this list using Terminal?

The rest of your post describing how to search by Tag was also quite helpful. Using CMD-f is the key to the answer.

I am grateful for your help.

Tod

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,758 points

Feb 18, 2022 12:24 AM in response to TodFromIndiana

Your second sentence implies that users simply can't turn off tag collection. ☹️🤬

Tags aren't being "collected". They're being recognised. It sees a tag. There's no way for it to identify which tags you have attached and tags someone else has.

while Finder did display a pop-up stating that they were being deleted from a huge number of files, they didn't disappear from the Tags list.

That's odd as they do disappear from the list here. What happens after a restart? My ignorance of the Terminal is vast and unending.

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Answer 4

Feb 17, 2022 5:25 PM in response to Yer_Man

You can allow use the Finder sidebar. For example,

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