What are Finder Tags?
In macOS, the Finder includes a file organization system called “Tags.” By default, you can assign colored dots (Red, Orange, Yellow, etc.) to any file or folder on your Mac. To help you quickly access these organized files, Apple places a permanent “Tags” section at the very bottom of the left-hand sidebar in every Finder window.
If you actually use this color-coding system, it is quite helpful. However, the vast majority of Mac users rely on traditional folders and search functions. For these users, the long list of colored tags simply wastes valuable vertical space in the Finder sidebar, forcing them to scroll down unnecessarily to reach their connected external drives or network locations. You can easily remove this section.
How to Remove the Tags Section from the Sidebar
You can hide the “Tags” section directly through the Finder preferences.
- Click the Finder icon in your Dock (the smiling blue and white face) to open a new Finder window and ensure Finder is the active application.
- Look at the very top of your screen, click on Finder in the menu bar, and select Settings… (or Preferences… on older versions of macOS).
- A small popup window will appear. Click on the Sidebar tab at the top.
- This tab displays a list of every single item permitted to appear in your sidebar. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list.
- You will see a checkbox labelled Recent Tags. Click to uncheck this box.
The moment you uncheck that box, the entire “Tags” section (and all the colored dots beneath it) will instantly vanish from the sidebar of every Finder window on your Mac, giving you a much cleaner and more streamlined file browsing experience.