Tagging and categorizing saved messages
Saving messages is the first step. Making them findable is the second. A folder full of unsorted screenshots or a notes document with hundreds of pasted messages becomes its own kind of mess - you know the evidence is in there somewhere, but finding the specific message you need when you need it feels impossible.
Categorization solves this. It turns a pile of saved messages into a searchable, organized collection. Here's how to set it up so it stays useful.
Why categorization matters at scale
A handful of saved messages don't need a system. You can scroll through ten screenshots and find what you're looking for. But record-keeping tends to accumulate. What starts as a few important messages becomes dozens, then hundreds, spread across platforms and time periods.
Without categorization, the collection becomes harder to use the larger it gets. You remember saving a specific message but can't find it. You need to show someone a pattern but can't pull the relevant messages together quickly. You have the records but not the ability to retrieve them efficiently.
Categorization also changes what you can do with your records. An unsorted collection can confirm that a specific message exists. A categorized collection can answer questions like: How many times has this topic come up? What was said about finances across all of 2025? When was the last time this commitment was made? These questions require being able to filter and sort, which requires categories.
Choosing your categories
The right categories depend on what you're documenting and why. There's no universal system, but most useful categorization schemes include some combination of these dimensions:
By topic. The most common approach. Categories might include: finances, scheduling, a specific ongoing disagreement, decisions about children, work commitments, a particular project. The topics should reflect what matters in your specific situation.
By urgency or importance. Not all saved messages carry equal weight. A message confirming a verbal agreement is more important than a message showing a minor inconsistency. Tagging messages by relevance level helps when you need to quickly pull together the most significant items.
By type of content. Commitments (someone agreeing to do something), contradictions (someone saying the opposite of what they said before), decisions, requests, refusals. This categorization is useful when you're tracking patterns of behavior rather than specific disputes.
By time period. Tagging messages by month or quarter makes it easy to pull up records from a specific window. This supplements the date stamp on the message itself - it lets you filter quickly without reading every entry.
By relevance to a specific matter. If you're preparing for a meeting, a legal proceeding, or a specific conversation, tagging everything relevant to that matter lets you pull a focused set without sorting through unrelated records.
Most people benefit from combining two or three of these. Topic plus time period. Topic plus content type. The goal is to have enough structure to find things quickly without so much structure that categorizing each message becomes a burden.
Tools for the job
You don't need specialized software, though it exists. Common tools that work well:
Spreadsheets. A row per message with columns for date, platform, sender, content (quoted or summarized), and one or more tag columns. This is the most flexible option. You can sort by any column, filter by any tag, and add new categories as your needs change. Google Sheets, Excel, or any spreadsheet app works.
Notes apps with tags. Apple Notes, Notion, Obsidian, and similar apps support tagging. Create one note per saved message or per batch of related messages, and apply tags. The tag-based search lets you pull up everything with a specific label across your entire collection.
Folder structures. The simplest approach: folders by topic, files by date within each folder. Works well for screenshots. Less flexible for messages that belong in multiple categories, since a file can only live in one folder (unless you duplicate it).
Dedicated tools. Receipts handles categorization as part of its analysis - messages are tagged by topic, pattern, and communication type automatically. For large record sets spanning multiple platforms, automated categorization saves significant time compared to manual tagging.
Making it sustainable
The system that works is the one you'll maintain. A perfect categorization scheme that you abandon after two weeks is less useful than a basic one you keep up with.
Some principles for sustainability:
Batch, don't trickle. Rather than categorizing each message the moment you save it, set aside time once a week to process your saved messages. Open your collection, tag the new entries, and file them. This keeps the habit manageable.
Start broad, refine later. Begin with four or five categories. You can always split a category into subcategories later if it gets too large. Starting with 20 categories creates decision fatigue every time you save a message.
Use consistent naming. If you tag something "money" in January and "finances" in March, your filter won't catch both. Pick terms and stick with them. Keep a list of your active tags somewhere accessible.
Allow for "unsorted." Not every message fits neatly into a category. Have a catch-all tag for messages you've saved but haven't categorized yet. Review the unsorted pile periodically and either categorize or discard.
When to recategorize
As your situation evolves, your categories may need to change. A dispute that resolves may no longer need its own category. A new issue may emerge that requires one. A category that's grown to contain 200 items may need splitting.
Recategorization is maintenance, not failure. It means your system is being used. Review your categories every few months and adjust based on what you're actively tracking. The goal is a collection that serves your current needs, not a permanent archive organized for all possible futures.