diff --git a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/folders_to_tags.py b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/folders_to_tags.py
index 7021d59d..2486a76e 100644
--- a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/folders_to_tags.py
+++ b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/folders_to_tags.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def folders_to_tags(library: Library):
                 library.add_tag_to_library(new_tag)
                 branch["dirs"][folder] = dict(dirs={}, tag=new_tag)
             branch = branch["dirs"][folder]
-        return branch["tag"]
+        return branch.get("tag")
 
     for tag in library.tags:
         reversed_tag = reverse_tag(library, tag, None)
diff --git a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_database.py b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_database.py
index 6101b737..15c59c2a 100644
--- a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_database.py
+++ b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_database.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from PySide6.QtWidgets import (
     QFrame,
 )
 
+from src.core.constants import TAG_COLORS
 from src.core.library import Library
 from src.qt.widgets.panel import PanelWidget, PanelModal
 from src.qt.widgets.tag import TagWidget
@@ -103,8 +104,28 @@ class TagDatabasePanel(PanelWidget):
             # Get tag ids to keep this behaviorally identical
             tags = [t.id for t in self.lib.tags]
 
+        if query:
+            # sort tags by whether the tag's name is the text that's matching the search, alphabetically, and then by color
+            sorted_tags = sorted(
+                tags,
+                key=lambda tag_id: (
+                    not self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).name.lower().startswith(query.lower()),
+                    self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).display_name(self.lib),
+                    TAG_COLORS.index(self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).color.lower()),
+                ),
+            )
+        else:
+            # sort tags by color and then alphabetically
+            sorted_tags = sorted(
+                tags,
+                key=lambda tag_id: (
+                    TAG_COLORS.index(self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).color.lower()),
+                    self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).display_name(self.lib),
+                ),
+            )
+
         first_id_set = False
-        for tag_id in tags:
+        for tag_id in sorted_tags:
             if not first_id_set:
                 self.first_tag_id = tag_id
                 first_id_set = True
diff --git a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_search.py b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_search.py
index 005391f2..a7740925 100644
--- a/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_search.py
+++ b/tagstudio/src/qt/modals/tag_search.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from PySide6.QtWidgets import (
     QFrame,
 )
 
+from src.core.constants import TAG_COLORS
 from src.core.library import Library
 from src.core.palette import ColorType, get_tag_color
 from src.qt.widgets.panel import PanelWidget
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ class TagSearchPanel(PanelWidget):
 
         self.root_layout.addWidget(self.search_field)
         self.root_layout.addWidget(self.scroll_area)
+        self.update_tags("")
 
     # def reset(self):
     # 	self.search_field.setText('')
@@ -110,7 +112,27 @@ class TagSearchPanel(PanelWidget):
         found_tags = self.lib.search_tags(query, include_cluster=True)[: self.tag_limit]
         self.first_tag_id = found_tags[0] if found_tags else None
 
-        for tag_id in found_tags:
+        if query:
+            # sort tags by whether the tag's name is the text that's matching the search, alphabetically, and then by color
+            sorted_tags = sorted(
+                found_tags,
+                key=lambda tag_id: (
+                    not self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).name.lower().startswith(query.lower()),
+                    self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).display_name(self.lib),
+                    TAG_COLORS.index(self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).color.lower()),
+                ),
+            )
+        else:
+            # sort tags by color and then alphabetically
+            sorted_tags = sorted(
+                found_tags,
+                key=lambda tag_id: (
+                    TAG_COLORS.index(self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).color.lower()),
+                    self.lib.get_tag(tag_id).display_name(self.lib),
+                ),
+            )
+
+        for tag_id in sorted_tags:
             c = QWidget()
             l = QHBoxLayout(c)
             l.setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0)
diff --git a/tagstudio/src/qt/widgets/thumb_renderer.py b/tagstudio/src/qt/widgets/thumb_renderer.py
index 27773399..e8faf928 100644
--- a/tagstudio/src/qt/widgets/thumb_renderer.py
+++ b/tagstudio/src/qt/widgets/thumb_renderer.py
@@ -883,10 +883,9 @@ class ThumbRenderer(QObject):
                     else Image.Resampling.BILINEAR
                 )
                 image = image.resize((new_x, new_y), resample=resampling_method)
+                mask: Image.Image = None
                 if gradient:
-                    mask: Image.Image = self._get_mask(
-                        (adj_size, adj_size), pixel_ratio
-                    )
+                    mask = self._get_mask((adj_size, adj_size), pixel_ratio)
                     edge: tuple[Image.Image, Image.Image] = self._get_edge(
                         (adj_size, adj_size), pixel_ratio
                     )
@@ -896,7 +895,7 @@ class ThumbRenderer(QObject):
                     )
                 else:
                     scalar = 4
-                    mask: Image.Image = self._get_mask(image.size, pixel_ratio)
+                    mask = self._get_mask(image.size, pixel_ratio)
                     # rec: Image.Image = Image.new(
                     #     "RGB",
                     #     tuple([d * scalar for d in image.size]),  # type: ignore