---
title: "Get started with Order Tags"
url: "https://kestrelwp.com/docs/get-started-with-order-tags/"
description: "Label WooCommerce orders with colored tags to filter and sort them at a glance."
published: "2026-10-06T20:23:23+00:00"
modified: "2026-10-08T19:57:53+00:00"
---

Order Tags labels your WooCommerce orders with colored tags, such as "Wholesale", "Gift" or "Express", so your team can spot, filter and sort orders at a glance. You add tags to orders by hand, in bulk from the orders list, or automatically with rules.

![Order Tags: overview (orders table with the Tags column, 5 or 6 rows)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-01.png)Tags are labels for you and your team. They don’t change an order’s status or send emails, and customers never see them.

## When you’d use this

- Flag wholesale, gift or first-time customer orders for your packing team.
- Mark orders that used a certain coupon or shipping method.
- Separate orders that need a follow-up, such as a customer note or a high order total.
- Group tags under a parent, such as "Fulfillment" with "Picked" and "Packed" under it.

## Requirements

- WordPress 6.3 or later, WooCommerce 8.5 or later, and PHP 7.4 or later.
- Compatible with WooCommerce’s cart and checkout blocks and High-Performance Order Storage.
- WooCommerce Subscriptions is optional. With it active, tags can also be set when a renewal order is created.
- Store administrators and shop managers can create and apply tags, and use the bulk page under [Tag existing orders](#tag-existing-orders).

## Install and activate

How you get updates depends on where you bought Order Tags:

- **Bought on kestrelwp.com:** download the plugin from the **Licensed downloads** tab of your kestrelwp.com account and install it. Then go to **Settings » Order Tags for WooCommerce activation** and activate the key from your **License keys** tab to receive updates. See [using sites against your activation limit](/docs/using-sites-against-your-activation-limit/) for how activations count.
- **Bought on WooCommerce.com:** install the plugin from your WooCommerce.com account. Updates come through your WooCommerce.com connection, with no license key to enter.

For upload, FTP and update steps, follow [how to install and update WooCommerce extensions](/docs/install-update-woocommerce-extensions/).

Once it’s active, WooCommerce has a new **Order Tags** menu item, and your orders list has a **Tags** column.

## Set up your first tag

### 1. Create the tag

Go to **WooCommerce » Order Tags**. In the **Add new order tag** form, enter a **Name**, optionally pick a **Parent order tag** and add a **Description**, then click **Add new order tag**.

![Order Tags: Create the tag (info notice, the Add new order tag form and the tag list)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-02.png)### 2. Set its colors

Once the tag is added, its edit screen opens. Colors and rules are only on this edit screen, not the add form. To come back to it later, click the tag’s name in the list. Set **Color background** and **Color text**, or leave them empty for white text on black.

### 3. Add a rule, if you want it set automatically

Under **Set on**, tick when the rule runs, such as **Order placed**. Under **Set if**, tick what the order must match, such as **Order total** with `>=` and `100`. Leave **"Set if" mode** on **All**. [Order Tags automatic tagging rules](/docs/order-tags-automatic-tagging-rules/) covers every option.

![Adding an Order Tags rule with color, Set on, and an Order total condition](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-03.png)![Adding an Order Tags rule with color, Set on, and an Order total condition](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-03-b.png)Skip this step for a tag you’ll only add by hand.

### 4. Update and check it

Click **Update**. If the tag has no **Set on** or no **Set if** option ticked, a prompt warns that it won’t be set automatically; click **OK** if it’s a tag for manual use.

Place a test order that matches the rule, then go to **WooCommerce » Orders**: the tag shows in the order’s **Tags** column. Rules apply to orders placed or updated from now on. To tag orders you already have, see [Tag existing orders](#tag-existing-orders).

## Tag settings

Every tag has these settings on its edit screen. Rules are covered in [Order Tags automatic tagging rules](/docs/order-tags-automatic-tagging-rules/).

### Name

The label shown on orders.

### Unique reference

The tag’s slug, labeled **Slug** on the add form. WordPress fills it in from the name. It’s what the tag is called in the order data that exports and other integrations read, so change it only if an integration needs a specific value.

### Parent order tag

Makes the tag a child of another tag. See [Parent and child tags](#parent-and-child-tags).

### Description

Shown when you hover over the tag on an order. Use it to tell your team what the tag means or what to do.

### Color background

The tag’s background color. Empty means black (`#000000`).

### Color text

The tag’s text color. Empty means white (`#ffffff`).

## Tag orders by hand

### On the order screen

Open an order and tick the tags you want in the **Order tags** box, then click **Update**. Tags show under the order’s details, at the top of the screen. To create a tag without leaving the order, click **+ Add new order tag** in the box; it gets the default colors and no rule until you edit it under **WooCommerce » Order Tags**.

To remove a tag, click the **×** next to it, under the order’s details or in the orders list. It’s removed straight away, without saving the order.

![Order Tags: On the order screen](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-04.png)### From the orders list

Tick the orders, choose **Set order tag: \[tag\]** or **Remove order tag: \[tag\]** from **Bulk actions**, and click **Apply**. A notice confirms how many orders changed, such as "3 order tags set."

If a tag has a rule that runs on **Order update**, it can come back the next time the order is updated while the order still matches. See [A tag comes back after I remove it](#a-tag-comes-back-after-i-remove-it).

## Find tagged orders

The **Tags** column in **WooCommerce » Orders** shows each order’s tags. To list only the orders with a certain tag, pick it in the **Order tags filter** dropdown above the list and click **Filter**. Pick **None** to list orders with no tags at all.

![Order Tags: Find tagged orders](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-05.png)Filtering by a tag lists orders that have that exact tag. Filtering by a parent tag doesn’t include orders that only have one of its child tags.

## Parent and child tags

Pick a **Parent order tag** to group related tags, such as "Picked" and "Packed" under "Fulfillment". Parents and children are separate tags: setting a child on an order doesn’t add its parent.

On orders, a parent and its children show together on a line of their own, after any tags that have no children. In the **Bulk actions** and **Order tags filter** dropdowns, child tags are indented under their parent with a dash.

## Tag existing orders

Rules run when orders are placed, updated or renewed, so orders from before you added a rule aren’t tagged. The bulk page applies or clears tags across every order in your store at once. It has no menu item: as an administrator or shop manager, open `/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wcot-order-tags-set-tags-bulk` on your site.

![Order Tags: Tag existing orders (the warning notice and the three buttons)](https://kestrelwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/order-tags-ot-06.png)- **Set tags on all orders:** checks every order against every tag’s **Set if** conditions and adds the tags that match. It ignores **Set on**, so every tag with conditions counts. Tags already on orders stay.
- **Reset tags on all orders:** removes every tag from every order, including tags you added by hand, then runs **Set tags on all orders**.
- **Remove tags on all orders:** removes every tag from every order.

Each button asks "Are you sure?" first, and the page shows "Order tags on all orders have been bulk updated." when it’s done. Before you use it:

- Back up your site. These actions change every order and can’t be undone.
- Try it on a staging site first. Every order is processed in one go, so on a store with many orders it can take a long time or time out.

## Common issues

### A tag isn’t set automatically

Check these in order:

1. The tag has at least one **Set on** option and at least one **Set if** condition ticked.
2. With **"Set if" mode** on **All**, the order meets every ticked condition.
3. **Set tag exclusions** doesn’t match the order.
4. The order was placed or updated after you added the rule. For older orders, use [Tag existing orders](#tag-existing-orders).
5. **Customer** and **Customer role** never match guest orders.

[Order Tags automatic tagging rules](/docs/order-tags-automatic-tagging-rules/#common-issues) covers rule-specific problems, such as checkout block orders and meta data conditions.

### A tag comes back after I remove it

The tag has a rule that runs on **Order update**, and the order still matches it, so the next update sets it again. Untick **Order update** on that tag if you don’t want this, or change its conditions.

### A tag stays on an order that no longer matches

Rules only add tags; they never remove one when an order stops matching. Remove the tag by hand, or use **Reset tags on all orders** to start over.

### A bulk action says "No order tags set."

The tag’s **Set tag exclusions** match the selected orders, which stops the tag even when you set it by hand. Check the exclusions on the tag’s edit screen.

### Filtering by a parent tag misses orders

The filter matches the exact tag only. Filter by the child tag, or add the parent tag to those orders too.

### The bulk page times out

The bulk page processes every order in one request. Ask your host about raising PHP’s execution time limit, or set tags on smaller batches of orders with the orders list’s bulk actions instead.

## Keep learning

- [Order Tags automatic tagging rules](/docs/order-tags-automatic-tagging-rules/) (every Set on and Set if option, with examples)
- [Order Tags developer reference](/docs/order-tags-developer-reference/) (filters, functions and exporting tags)
- [How to install and update WooCommerce extensions](/docs/install-update-woocommerce-extensions/) (installing, updating and fixing upload errors)
- [Changing text in a plugin](/docs/changing-text-in-a-plugin/) (translating or renaming the plugin’s labels)