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TagSpaces Lite

TagSpaces Lite is our open-source desktop application, offering the fundamental functionalities used in our other product. Here you will find an overview of the major features available in this application. It runs offline and locally on you Windows, Mac, Linux or Android device and does not require an internet connection or any kind of registration.

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.

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.
More on tagging in the docs
Activating the persisting of tags for files in sidecar files
Creating notes as text files with TagSpaces

Creating and editing text files (notes)

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

    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
    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
    More on search in the docs
    Searching for tags

    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:
    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 build 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

      Printing files

      Many of the supported file types can be directly printed from the application. If you operating system supports printing to PDFs, you can easy create PDF from TagSpaces.

        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.
          Video showing importing files with drag and drop from your Desktop to a location in TagSpaces
          Switching to dark mode is possible with one click

          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.

            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

              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 and Android can be downloaded for free from our download page.

              To learn about our main TagSpaces Pro visit our Products Comparison