---
title: How to create a virtual tag
canonical: "https://cloudmonitor.ai/docs/how-to/how-to-create-a-virtual-tag/"
description: "Map the many ways one tag is spelled across your estate onto a single reporting name, without touching any resource."
---

Tagging in a real estate is inconsistent. One team writes `env`, another `Env`, a third `environment`.
All three mean the same thing and none of them report together.

A virtual tag fixes that in CloudMonitor, without anyone editing a single resource.

:::note[Admins only]
You need the **Admin** role to do this. Admins are set in Settings ▸ Users & Access. If you don't
see the screens below, ask an admin in your organization.
:::

## What it does, and what it doesn't

A virtual tag **renames**. It maps several source tag names onto one reporting name so they group
together in reports and in the top-bar filter.

It does **not** move spend between cost groups. That's
[allocation rules](/docs/how-to/how-to-allocate-costs-with-rules/), and confusing the two is the most
common mistake here. You usually want both: allocation for a clean division of the bill, virtual tags
for a consistent way to slice across it.

![The virtual tag editor mapping several source tag names onto one reporting tag with Where and OR rows](../../../../assets/docs/virtual-tag-editor.png)

## Create one

Settings ▸ **Virtual Tags** ▸ **New virtual tag**.

**Virtual Tag Name** — up to 50 characters, e.g. `Environment`. This is what appears in reports and
in the filter.

:::tip[The name is fixed once created]
A virtual tag is keyed by its name, so the field is disabled after saving. Choose the name you want
in reports, not a working title.
:::

Then map the source tags. The first row reads **Where Tag Name is**, each one after it
**OR Tag Name is**. Pick from the tag names already in your data or type one, then **Add rule** for
the next.

To catch the example above you'd add three rows: `env`, `Env`, `environment`.

## Two things the picker does for you

**Azure tag names are case-sensitive.** `Env` and `env` are genuinely different tags and both need
their own row. This is the single biggest reason virtual tags exist.

**A source tag can only belong to one virtual tag.** The picker hides any name already mapped
elsewhere, or already used in another row here, so you can't accidentally claim it twice. If a name
you expect is missing, it's already mapped — check your other virtual tags.

## The workspace default

One virtual tag can be pinned as the workspace default, from the bookmark button in the list or
**Actions ▸ Set as default**. It's the one CloudMonitor reaches for first.

The default can't be deleted:

> This is the workspace default virtual tag, so it can’t be deleted. Set another tag as default first.

## Using it

Once saved, the tag appears in the top-bar **Virtual Tags** filter. Pick the tag, then the values you
want. See [filtering every report at once](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/global-filters/).

Each tag also carries an **Unallocated** bucket — spend that matched none of its source tags. That
number is your tagging gap for that tag, and it's the most useful thing on the picker: a large one
tells you a rule is missing or a team isn't tagging.

## A practical order of work

1. Look at what tag names actually exist before inventing a scheme — the picker lists them.
2. Start with the two or three that matter for reporting. Environment and owner are the usual first
   picks.
3. Check the Unallocated bucket after the next update and add the spellings you missed.
4. Only then consider fixing the tags at source, which is slower and belongs to whoever creates
   resources.