Unpublishing AEM Tags Impact

[ShashankJa1]

Hi, 

If we have some pages and content fragments (used for filters) tagged with certain tag values listed in the AEM Tag Console, and we no longer want those tags to be used or visible to authors, will unpublishing the tags in AEM Tag console cause any issues or breaks in the pages and content fragments experience that were already tagged with those values?

Thanks,

Shashank

[SantoshSai · Accepted solution]

Hi @ShashankJa1,

What happens when you unpublish tags that are in use?

• Tags still exist in the repository, but the tag nodes are unpublished and no longer available on the publish instance.

• Pages and content fragments tagged with those tags will still keep their tag references (the UUID or path of the tag node).

• However, on the publish environment, the tags won’t resolve to visible tag titles or metadata, because the tag nodes are unpublished and effectively hidden.

• This can cause filter components, tag-based navigation, or any UI relying on the tag metadata to break or show empty values since the tags are no longer available.

• Author environment will still see the tags as normal if they remain published there.

Key considerations:

Effect	Explanation
Pages keep the tag reference	The tag reference (path or UUID) remains on pages and fragments.
Tag metadata unavailable on Publish	Since tags are unpublished, publish instances cannot resolve or display tag info correctly.
Filtering / Tag-based components may break	Components relying on tag metadata for filtering or display may malfunction or show no results.
Authoring experience unchanged	Authors still see tags if they remain published in Author.

Recommendation: 

• Instead of unpublishing tags that are in use, consider:

  • Removing the tags from the pages and content fragments first (retag with allowed tags).

  • Then unpublish or delete the unused tags safely.

• This way, you avoid breaking tag-based features on your live site.

Hope that helps!

[Saravanan_Dharmaraj]

This detailed explanation .. wow..  Awesome @SantoshSai !