How to Organize Word Documents With Tags

James Marshall is a pro journalist who covers technology and computer troubleshooting. He is also skilled with Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and other word processors.

Updated on January 14, 2021 Reviewed by

Lisa Mildon is a Lifewire writer and an IT professional with 30 years of experience. Her writing has appeared in Geekisphere and other publications.

Add tags, or keywords, to Microsoft Word documents to make documents easier to find. By default, when you save a Word document, there are no tags saved along with it, but you can add your own before or after you make the document.

Instructions in this article apply to Word 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.

How to Add Tags to Word Files

Tags are useful when you have several related documents in a single folder or on a flash drive, for example, and each document has a non-descriptive or nearly identical file name like project.docx, otherproject.docx, and otherproject1.docx. To quickly find related files in a folder, categorize each file by applying a tag. Then, search the folder for a specific tag to find documents with that tag.

Here's how to add tags to a Microsoft Word document:

File screen in Word with the Save As option highlighted

  1. Go to File >Save As.

In Word 2010, skip this step.

Save As screen in Word with the Browse option highlighted

Word might recommend tags as you type. Select an autosuggestion, if one matches your needs, and use your custom tags.

Save window in Word with the <a href=Tags field highlighted" width="1920" height="1038" />

How to Add Tags Using Windows Explorer

You can add tags to a Word document even if you don't have the app installed. Here's how:

  1. Open Windows Explorer and find the Word document.

Options menu on a Word document with the Properties option highlighted

Right-click the file and choose Properties.

Properties window in Windows with the Details tab highlighted

Go to the Details tab.

Properties window in Windows with the <a href=Tags field highlighted" width="1920" height="1005" />

In the Tags text box, enter the keywords.

Properties window in Windows with the OK button highlighted

Select OK to save the tags and close the dialog box.

How to Edit or Remove Word Document Tags

Once you've added tags, edit or remove tags using the method described above. You can also choose to remove all tags from a Word file using the following steps:

  1. Locate the document in Windows Explorer.

Options menu on a Word document with the Properties option highlighted

Right-click the file, then choose Properties.

Properties window in Windows with the Details tab highlighted

Go to the Details tab.

Details tab in <a href=Properties with the Remove Properties and Personal Information option highlighted" width="1920" height="1005" />

Select Remove Properties and Personal Information.

Remove Properties window with the

Select Remove the following properties from this file.

Remove Properties window with the Tags option highlighted

Select the Tags check box.

Remove Properties window with the OK button highlighted

Select OK to save the changes and close the dialog box.