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Filename → Tag

Use Filename → Tag when the names contain reliable metadata but the tag fields are missing or wrong. A pattern captures pieces of each name into fields. It can read parent folders as well as the filename.

Extract a track number and title

  1. Save pending edits and select copied files named like 03 - Paper Boats.mp3.
  2. Choose Convert → Filename → Tag… (Alt+2; Alt is ⌥ Option on a Mac).

  3. In Filename pattern, enter:

    %track% - %title%

  4. Choose Preview. Check for TRACK = 03 and TITLE = Paper Boats.

  5. Choose Apply to … files to save the matched files immediately.

The converter replaces fields named in the pattern and retains other fields. It does not rename the audio file. Files that do not match stay unchanged; the preview marks them No match, not changed.

Match separators exactly

%track% names a destination field. - is literal text separating it from %title%; its spaces and punctuation must occur in the filename.

Filename Pattern Fields captured
03 - Paper Boats.mp3 %track% - %title% TRACK = 03; TITLE = Paper Boats
Juniper Vale - Paper Boats.flac %artist% - %title% ARTIST = Juniper Vale; TITLE = Paper Boats
03_Paper Boats_demo.mp3 %track%_%title%_%dummy% TRACK = 03; TITLE = Paper Boats
03. Paper Boats.mp3 %track% - %title% No match

The entire candidate name must match. %dummy% consumes unwanted text without writing a field. Captures are not trimmed, so put fixed surrounding spaces in the pattern rather than capturing them into a field.

The normal pattern omits the audio extension. OpenTag removes the extension from the name before matching unless the pattern ends in that same literal extension. Thus %track% - %title%.mp3 also works for the MP3 example, but is less useful for a selection mixing formats.

Read parent folders

For a layout such as:

Music/Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights (2024)/03 - Paper Boats.mp3

use backslashes in the pattern, including on macOS and Linux:

%artist%\%album% (%year%)\%track% - %title%

The result includes ARTIST = Juniper Vale, ALBUM = Harbour Lights, YEAR = 2024, TRACK = 03 and TITLE = Paper Boats. Without an absolute root, the pattern reads the required trailing levels of the path; the earlier Music folder is not needed. A leading backslash or drive specification makes that root part of the match too.

Gotchas

  • %artist%%title% is rejected because adjacent captures have no separator. Use a real delimiter from the names.
  • A delimiter repeated inside an artist or title can make the split ambiguous for your intended meaning. Check those rows in the preview.
  • This is a capture pattern, not a scripting expression or regex. For later cleanup, apply a separate field-formatting step.
  • Read-only underscore placeholders are not destinations here. Use ordinary field names and %dummy%.
  • Applying saves immediately. Keep copies and inspect operation errors and Edit → Undo for recorded changes.