TagSpaces Lite | TagSpaces

Free and Open Source

The source code of TagSpaces Lite is available on GitHub and published under the AGPLv3 license. It can be inspected by anyone and we accept pull request with new features or improvements. Bugs are tracked in the GitHub's issue tracker.

Activating the persisting of tags for files in sidecar files

File and folder tagging

The tags are stored in a platform and file-type independent way. In comparison to similar products, TagSpaces does not use a central database for storing the tags but rather utilize alternative ways for saving this meta information:

Tagging by file renaming — here the name of the file is used for storing the tags. So if you want to add the tags vacation and alps to an image named IMG-2653.jpg, the application will rename it to IMG-2653[vacation alps].jpg. File renaming is a controversial solution, with its own limitations, but once embedded in the file name, the tags stick with the file on any common operating system. This makes the tagging durable, portable and usable outside of the TagSpaces app.
File tagging with a helper sidecar file — The advantage of this solution is that the name of the file is not changed after tagging and there is theoretically no limit in the number of tags you can add to a given file. The sidecar file is saved in a .ts folder of the folder containing the tagged file.
Folder tagging with a sidecar file — Folders are always tagged with a sidecar file called tsm.json located in the .ts sub folder.

File management operations

The app can be used as a basic file manager. It currently supports the following operations:

Creating of folders and text files
Renaming of files and folders
Deleting of files and folders
Moving files
Opening files with the current default application for the operating system
Revealing a folder in the default file manager of the operating system
Opening the parent folder of a file in the default file manager for the operating system

Screenshot showing the dialog for moving or copying files

Creating notes as text files with TagSpaces

Create and edit notes as simple text files

TagSpaces has the ability to create and edit plain text , HTML and Markdown files. With these functions the application can be used as an offline alternative for note-taking and personal knowledge management services such as Evernote, Onenote or Dropbox.

The file creation is available at any time during the using of the application and can be initiated by clicking the button with a plus sign, visible in the screenshot. There is also a global shortcut key combination for file creation which is CTRL+SHIFT+N on Windows/Linux and CMD+SHIFT+N on macOS.

The files are created in the current folder and are opened automatically in the corresponding file editor.

Learn more on note-taking

Turn S3 a compliant object storage into an online file browser

In order to work collaboratively on the same files with family members or co-workers, the Pro version supports the connection of cloud object storage as TagSpaces' locations. Such storage is offered by cloud provider like Amazon AWS or Wasabi. You can also host an object storage privately (e.g. on your NAS) with the help of open source projects like MinIO.
By doing so, you are getting a full-fledged file organizer and browser in the Cloud, so you do not have to download files in order to preview, edit or annotate them.

Connect AWS S3 or Wasabi buckets as locations
Connect self-hosted (e.g. on your NAS) MinIO folders as locations
Browse object storage buckets in TagSpaces
Direct streaming of the supported audio and video formats
Edit text files directly in the buckets
Upload files with simple drag and drop actions

Preview files directly in the app

The application supports previewing of many file types. Here is a list of some of the built-in viewers:

Image viewer — for JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, BMP, WEBP, ICO, PSD, TIFF and JIF files
PDF viewer — for PDF files
Archive viewer — for ZIP archives
Text viewer — for Markdown and all kind of text files
Media player — for playing audio and video files
Spreadsheet viewer — for CSV, Excel, ODF file files

And many others

Source code browser and editor

The text editor supports source code highlighting for many common programming languages. This in combination with the built-in JSON editor makes the application a good source code navigator with basic editing capabilities. The intention here is not to makes TagSpaces your next IDE, but rather to give your quick overview of source code repositories.

Screenshot showing the source code highlighting of a JavaScript file

Video showing tagging files by dragging tags from the tag library and dropping them to the files

Tagging with drag and drop

The user interface of the application is designed to be usable on touch screens, but for the pure desktop, we support many drag and drop operation such as:

Adding tags from the tag groups to files and folders in the list and grid views
Adding tags from the tag groups to tagging are in the file properties
Dragging a tag from a file to another file or folder, will tag the second file with tag from the first file
You can move a tag from one tag group to another with drag and drop
Dragging a tag from a file or folder to a tag group is also possible

Search capabilities

TagSpaces has an integrated file and folder search functionality. The difference between classic Desktop search software and TagSpaces' solution is that the search is performed only in the currently opened location or folder. The search is based on an index, which is created immediately after the user starts a search and is valid by default for 10 minutes:

The search algorithm considers the information with different weight: file name, folder name, tags, description, entry path.
There are three type of searching:
Fuzzy — it will deliver broader search results, tolerating typos in the search query
Strict — it will deliver exact search results
Semi-strict — it is same as strict but case insensitive

Importing files from your Desktop

You can import files from your Desktop or your default file manager in the current folder opened in TagSpaces. This can be done by just dragging the files you want to import and dropping them in the application, this way the files will copied in the current folder.

Color coded file types

In order to better recognize different type of files you set a custom color to every supported file type in the settings of the application. This file type color is visible whenever the app shows the file type extension.

Settings of the app where all color of the file extensions can be adjusted

Dark mode theme

TagSpaces features a modern user interface with featuring themes. The app is delivered with two of them a light one which is the default and a dark one. The themes can be switched with a click on the button marked on the screenshot.

TagSpaces Lite as web app

A web version of TagSpaces Lite which can be installed on a static web server or on NAS. This way you can use TagSpaces in your favorite browser without installing the desktop application. TagSpaces Web Lite can manage only files located on object storage like AWS S3, Wasabi, Minio...

Switching to dark mode is possible with one click

Portable mode

The Windows and Linux versions of TagSpaces can be started in the so-called portable mode, allowing the use from an USB-stick or other portable devices. In this mode all the configuration information such as tags, tag groups and location configuration is stored in the folder from where the application is started and not in the home user folder on current operating systems. Find out more on portable mode section in the documentation.

Free downloads

TagSpaces Lite packages for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and for self-hosting can be downloaded for free from our download page.

If the features of TagSpaces Lite are not enough for you, please check our more advanced product TagSpaces Pro or visit the

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