"Tim McGraw" is the debut single by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on June 19, 2006, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose for her debut studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). Produced by Nathan Chapman, "Tim McGraw" is an acoustic guitar-led country and country pop ballad that incorporates the '50s progression and features fiddle, mandolin, and Dobro guitar. The lyrics are about a summer romance that has passed: the narrator pleads with her ex-boyfriend to remember her every time he hears her favorite song by the country musician Tim McGraw, the track's namesake.

Music critics praised "Tim McGraw" for its engaging narrative with memorable details and nostalgia-inducing sentiments. Retrospective reviews have regarded the single as a blueprint for Swift's songwriting. Rolling Stone featured it on their lists "100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time" (2020) and "200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time" (2024). In the United States, "Tim McGraw" peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on Hot Country Songs. The track charted at number 10 on Canada Country and has received certifications in Australia and the United States.

Trey Fanjoy directed the music video, in which Swift's character and the ex-boyfriend reminisce about a past summer romance in rural Tennessee. Swift promoted "Tim McGraw" and her debut album with a six-month radio tour in 2006 and by opening for other country musicians' tours in 2006 and 2007. She performed the song at the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards in 2007; included it in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–2010); and performed it on several dates of her later tours.

In 2004, Pennsylvania-born Taylor Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed a songwriting contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2004—the youngest signee in its history—and a recording contract with Big Machine Records in 2005. Swift spent four months near the end of 2005 recording her debut album, Taylor Swift; recording was wrapped by the time Swift had completed her freshman year of high school.

Swift developed the idea for "Tim McGraw" during a math class at school and wrote it within 15 minutes. She thought about how her relationship with her senior boyfriend would end because he would leave for college: "I started thinking about all the things that I knew would remind him of me." After finishing school, she came to the Sony/ATV office to finish the song with co-writer Liz Rose; they completed the track on a piano. According to Rose, Swift came to her with "the idea and the melody, knowing exactly what she wanted". The two brainstormed ideas to polish the track, and the first thing that came to Swift was her love for Tim McGraw's music. The final lyrics contain several personal references, including Swift's favorite song of McGraw: "Can't Tell Me Nothin" from his 2004 album Live Like You Were Dying.

Swift initially titled the track "When You Think Tim McGraw", a decision that Rose considered "weird" but also "bold". She approached the producer Nathan Chapman to record the song. Chapman had produced demos for other artists in Nashville, and his studio was a converted one-car garage at the back of the Sony/ATV offices. Big Machine was skeptical of Chapman because he had not produced a commercial album, but Swift believed they had the "right chemistry". He said that when Swift first played the song to him, he was astonished by the emotional engagement and thought of the song as a refreshing way to depict a romance between two people. He arranged the instruments, played both acoustic and electric guitars, and sang background vocals; other instruments recorded for "Tim McGraw" include fiddle, mandolin, bass guitar, Dobro guitar, and drums.

In a meeting that Swift had with Big Machine's head Scott Borchetta to discuss which songs would be featured on her debut album, she performed "Tim McGraw" for Borchetta on ukulele. As soon as Swift finished singing it, Borchetta decided that it would be her first single. He suggested that Swift rename it "Tim McGraw", deeming it a move that could make fans of McGraw—a contemporary country "superstar"—immediately become curious in her name. Swift initially did not believe that "Tim McGraw" was an appropriate choice for a single, but she retrospectively reflected that it was a right decision. Big Machine released "Tim McGraw" to country radio in the United States on June 19, 2006. It is first on the track listing of Taylor Swift, released on October 24, 2006. After the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's albums that Big Machine had released, "Tim McGraw" was reissued on 7-inch vinyl by Big Machine on August 16, 2019.

To promote the single, Swift spent mid-2006 sending promotional copies of "Tim McGraw" to country radio stations across the United States: "With every envelope that I would seal I would look at the address and the station on there and think, 'Please, please just listen to this one time.'" She also encouraged her fans via Myspace to request their local radio stations to play the song. Swift said that when the subject of "Tim McGraw" learned about the song, he thought it was "cool" and kept his friendship with her despite their breakup. In a 2021 interview with Apple Music, McGraw said that he initially had some reservations about the song ("Have I gotten to that age now to where they're singing songs about me? Does that mean I've jumped the shark a bit?"), but he ultimately enjoyed it and became friends with Swift.