by 
OS X Mavericks is finally here, so MacLife proudly presents a series of informative how-tos to keep you updated on what has changed and how to use it. Check back often to learn more about the newest Mac operating system from Apple.
One of the main features of OS X Mavericks is the long-awaited tagging abilities built right into the operating system. Tags are available in all system-owned Save panels, in the iCloud file browser, and of course in Finder as well. From viewing, to searching, to sorting, tags make all of these tasks easier. Continue reading, and we’ll show you how to define tag meaning, tag items, and view those tagged files with ease in Mavericks.
Defining Tag Meaning
Tags in Mavericks reuse the methodology of colored tags in previous generations of OS X. You can manage all of your existing tags, and assign or rename them in Finder > Preferences (or press Command + comma) > Tags.
Here, all of your tags will be visible. Right-click on any tag to delete it. Deleting a tag will simply remove that tag from a file, and will not remove the actual file. Click on any of the tag titles to rename the tag to a more appropriate meaning. Here, you can also drag any of your most-used tags to the bottom portion of the view. This will automatically add them to the list that appears when right-clicking a file in the Finder, for easier tagging.
Tagging Files in the Finder
Tagging files in the Finder is just as easy as managing your Tags. Right-click on any file in the Finder, and select one of your favorite tags from the tags listing. If you want to create a new tag, then click the “Tags” item, and a popover dialog will appear, letting you specify the name of the new tag.
Tagging in a Save Dialog
Tagging can also be done through the Save dialog in almost any application that uses the standard OS X save dialog. When saving a file, you’ll see the new Tag field that lets you specify the name of the tag. As you start typing, your existing tags will be filtered, and you can select any of them from the autocompletion to have the document tagged with that tag.
Searching with Tags
Tags makes searching a breeze in Spotlight
To do this in Spotlight, enter a search term for the item that you’re looking for, then type “tag:tagname,” replacing “tagname” with the tag you wish to filter using. For example, if we were looking for a file named “myfile” tagged with the “mytag” tag, you’d type the following into Spotlight:
myfile tag:mytag
Spotlight would then search through all of the files tagged “mytag” with the search term “myfile.”
Viewing Tags in Finder
There are a few ways to display all tagged files for a specific tag within the Finder. We’ll show you two: Through search, and through the Sidebar.
Through the Search bar, type in the name of that tag what you wish to view the files for, then select the tag that appears in the autocompletion drop down. All files for that specific that will be shown in the search results.
You can also view your most recent tags from the Finder sidebar by first enabling this feature by going to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar, and checking the box labeled, “Recent Tags.” Most recent tags will appear in the Finder sidebar, and selecting one of them will display all of the files associated with that tag.
