Why does SharePoint column metadata tags automatically add semicolon/hash to certain documents? Ex: ;#Tag Name;#

Question

Initially, the items would be uploaded and tagged with the appropriate titles with just text. After a few days or so, some of the documents have a semicolon and # added to the text before and after as shown in the attached photo. Please note that ;#Photos;# does not become a new metadata tag option to select from, but it does affect filtering. How do I prevent the ;# error from occurring?

Answer 1

Dear Craig,

As similar issue may have different root causes, I kindly suggest you post a new thread on our forum for expert help.

Sincerely,

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Cliff,

We have also seen this happen but only on jpeg files, the "Keywords" field gets a # in front of the tag, very unusual.

Regards

Craig

Answer 3

Dear Shalia,

I'm following up on the thread with you.

It seems that we can't reproduce the issue in our environment.

It seems that the Document Type column is the Metadata type column. May I know how many row have such issues? If you remove the values on the affected rows and re-add the term values, what's the result?

May I know whether you apply some column formatting to the column?

May I know how many rows you have on the affected list?

Thanks for your effort and time.

Sincerely,

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

Dear ShaliaK,

Thanks for posting in Microsoft community.

We go through your description and understand you are having trouble with the metadata tags. We are having a test on this behavior. We will update the reply in this thread and give proper solution or workaround later. The test in SharePoint takes time and we appreciate your patience and time.

Thanks for your cooperation, have a good day.

Sincerely,

Sean Cai | Microsoft Community Moderator