{
  "schema": "https://storagestudio.us/schema/wiki-page.v1",
  "title": "Finder tags",
  "slug": "glossary-finder-tags",
  "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-finder-tags",
  "markdown_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-finder-tags.md",
  "category": "Glossary",
  "category_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary/",
  "tags": [
    "glossary",
    "finder",
    "metadata"
  ],
  "summary": "Finder tags are the coloured labels and named tags you give files and folders in Finder. A folder move between your Mac and your external drive keeps them.",
  "published_at": "2026-10-01T06:16:24.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-01T05:35:54.000Z",
  "headings": [],
  "links_out": [
    {
      "slug": "glossary-extended-attributes",
      "label": "Extended attributes",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "label": "What a move keeps",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    }
  ],
  "links_in": [
    {
      "slug": "glossary-extended-attributes",
      "title": "Extended attributes",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "title": "What a move keeps",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    }
  ],
  "diagrams": [],
  "images": [],
  "screenshots_pending": [],
  "faqs": [],
  "text": "Finder tags are the coloured labels — Red, Orange, Blue and so on — and named tags you give files and folders in Finder, so you can find related things together from the sidebar or a search. A tag is stored as one of the file's extended attributes , not in its name or contents. So a copy that keeps extended attributes keeps tags; a copy that doesn't, loses them. When Storage Studio moves a folder between your Mac and your external drive, each file's Finder tags go with it — including through a Relocate , where the tags travel with the file on the drive. Copies to a cloud account depend on what that provider can store, so don't rely on tags surviving there. See also: What a move keeps · Extended attributes",
  "markdown": "**Finder tags** are the coloured labels — Red, Orange, Blue and so on — and named tags you give files and folders in Finder, so you can find related things together from the sidebar or a search.\n\nA tag is stored as one of the file's [extended attributes](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes), not in its name or contents. So a copy that keeps extended attributes keeps tags; a copy that doesn't, loses them.\n\nWhen Storage Studio moves a folder between your Mac and your external drive, each file's Finder tags go with it — including through a **Relocate**, where the tags travel with the file on the drive. Copies to a cloud account depend on what that provider can store, so don't rely on tags surviving there.\n\nSee also: [What a move keeps](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps) · [Extended attributes](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes)\n"
}