How To Easily Find Files With TagSpaces On Linux
It doesn’t matter how fast your operating system is, or how quick the search box is, if your personal files have weird, non-searchable names, you will not find them. To solve this problem you find files with Tagspaces on Linux. TagSpaces is a unique app that lets you easily find files on Linux by inserting tags into the filename. Going this route eliminates the need for a database, and will ensure that no matter what OS or computer your precious files are on, they’re organized.
SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down and watch the video tutorial at the end of this article.
Install TagSpaces
The TagSpaces application gives first-class support to the Debian and Redhat family of Linux distributions, and there are downloadable packages available on the website. Users of other Linux distributions can run the software via a portable Tar archive.
To install this software, open up a terminal and follow the instructions that relate to your operating system.
Debian/Ubuntu
Using the wget tool, download the latest DEB package to your PC.
Note: the app does support 32-bit, but there is no download for a 32-bit DEB package. If you need 32-bit, skip these instructions and follow the instructions for “Generic Linux” below.
wget https://www.tagspaces.org/downloads/tagspaces-amd64.deb
With the package on your Linux PC, use the dpkg tool to install the package.
sudo dpkg -i tagspaces-amd64.deb
Installing the app with dpkg will return a few errors. To fix this issue, run the apt install command with the “f” flag. This will correct any dependencies that don’t install.
sudo apt install -f
Arch Linux
Arch Linux doesn’t have an official, downloadable package. Instead, you must build the software from the AUR.
To build the package from the AUR, you’ll need the Git package and the base-devel package. Install these with the Pacman package tool.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel
With both packages on your Arch system, use Git to pull down the AUR snapshot and build it. Keep in mind that the package will call in various dependencies. These dependencies may not build everything, and you must install them manually.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/tagspaces-bin.git cd tagspaces-bin makepkg -si tagspaces-bin
Fedora/OpenSUSE
To install TagSpaces on Fedora or OpenSUSE, you must download the official RPM package. In a terminal, use wget and grab it from the website.
wget https://www.tagspaces.org/downloads/tagspaces-amd64.rpm
With the package downloaded, install to your Fedora or OpenSUSE PC.
Fedora
sudo dnf install tagspaces-amd64.rpm
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install tagspaces-amd64.rpm
Generic Linux
If you need to install TagSpaces but don’t have a Linux distribution in the Debian or Redhat family, you’re in luck; the app has a generic Tar archive that anyone can use on any Linux OS at all! To get it, open a terminal and use the wget tool to download it.
wget https://www.tagspaces.org/downloads/tagspaces-linux64.tar.gz
or, for 32-bit:
wget https://www.tagspaces.org/downloads/tagspaces-linux32.tar.gz
Extract the Tar archive to access the files inside.
tar -xzvf tagspaces-linux*.tar.gz
Once the archive has been extracted, it’s usable. To execute the program, run:
./tagspaces
Set Up TagSpaces
TagSpaces works by adding searchable tags directly to a file’s filename. It can’t discover files automatically. To use the program, you must add a location manually. To connect to a location, click the “Choose Location” button.
Selecting “choose location” opens a “Connect Location” menu. In this menu, find the folder icon and click it to open the “browse location” dialog.
In the “browse location” menu, search for your home folder and click “OK”.
Tagging Items
Tagging files works by searching through a connected location and adding metadata. To add metadata, look to the lefthand-side of the app and select a folder to sort through.
Selecting a folder will load all the files it contains into a scrollable list. Check the boxes next to files you’d like to tag.
Once you’ve got the files ready, right-click on any of them and select the “Add/Remove tag” button.
In the tagging menu, enter as many relevant, searchable words for the selected file. When done, click “add tags” to save it.
Additional Search Apps
There are many searching applications on Linux that can work with the TagSpaces “filename tagging” method of making files more findable. Though, if you’re looking for the best, most top-notch file search application, there is but one answer: Fsearch.
The reason to choose Fsearch? It’s super fast! By combining Fsearch’s filename tags with super quick indexing and search, you’ll find your files, no matter what! Better yet, the code is open and compile options are easy to do. As a result, it’s possible to run the software on any Linux distribution.
Learn about how to install Fsearch more here!
