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Copy, move and delete files

File operations change where audio files exist, rather than changing their metadata. Start with copied practice files and a separate destination folder. Check the selected-file count: a filter can hide selected rows without removing them from the operation.

Choose the operation by its effect

Goal Command Disk and list effect
Make another file in a folder Edit → Copy files to… Create a destination copy; retain the source and its listed row
Relocate the file Edit → Move files to… Move the file and update its listed path; it may then leave the list
Stop showing selected rows Edit → Remove from list Remove rows and their pending edits; keep the files on disk
Empty the workspace File → Clear list Remove every listed row, including hidden rows; keep files on disk
Delete through the system trash Edit → Delete files… Send successfully deleted files to the desktop trash and remove their rows
Delete without the trash Edit → Delete files permanently… Remove successfully deleted files directly from disk and the list

Copy tags, Cut tags and Paste tags are different commands. They transfer metadata, not the audio files. Removing a tag also leaves the audio file in place.

Copy one album file to a practice folder

Suppose the original is /Music/Juniper Vale/03 - Paper Boats.flac and the existing destination folder is /Practice/Harbour Lights.

  1. Save intended pending tag edits, or deliberately discard them. Copy/move commands require the selected files' pending changes to be resolved.
  2. Select the ordinary file row. Clear an old selection first if necessary; do not use the number of visible rows as the target count.
  3. Choose Edit → Copy files to… (Cmd+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+C).
  4. Choose the existing destination folder. Read the confirmation's destination, file count and shortened name list before accepting.
  5. Check the result and any file errors. The intended destination is /Practice/Harbour Lights/03 - Paper Boats.flac.
  6. Use Add files… or Add directory… to inspect the new copy. Copying does not automatically add its destination row to the file list.

The confirmation abbreviates long name lists; it is not a per-file rename preview. Check the full selection and destination yourself before accepting.

The command retains the filename and extension. It places selected files directly in the chosen folder; it does not recreate the source folder tree. To create a metadata-derived folder layout, use Tag → Filename on practice files instead.

When a copy or move is rejected

The transfer planner checks the complete selection before starting. An ordinary existing destination name, two selected sources with the same basename, a source already in the destination folder, an unreadable source, or an invalid destination can reject the plan. Selected basenames are also compared without letter case, so Song.flac and song.flac are treated as a selection conflict even on a volume that can store both.

For example, selecting both /Set A/03 - Paper Boats.flac and /Set B/03 - Paper Boats.flac for one destination does not merge them or invent a suffix. Choose separate destination folders or deliberately rename copies before transferring them.

These checks are useful safeguards, not a universal filesystem alias or collision guarantee. Links, case rules, network volumes and changes made by another process have their own limits. A clean empty practice destination makes the intended result easier to inspect. Do not approve an operation on the assumption that it will resolve every ambiguous name for you.

Planning failure leaves that plan unstarted. A failure during execution is different: successful earlier transfers can remain. Read each error and inspect both folders before retrying; the batch is not one rollback transaction.

Move files and understand disappearing rows

Use Edit → Move files to… (Cmd+Shift+V / Ctrl+Shift+V) with the same selection/destination checks. The destination filename is unchanged. A move can succeed even if reading the destination's metadata afterward fails, so an error does not always mean the file stayed at its old path.

Options → General → Keep moved files in the file list controls whether files moved outside the listed folders remain visible. With that option off, a successfully moved file can disappear from the list. That disappearance is not deletion. Inspect the reported destination in the file manager or open the destination folder in OpenTag.

Copy/move commands do not create a session tag-Undo step. To reverse a move, inspect the destination first, then deliberately move the file back when its original name/location is available. To remove an unwanted copy, identify the copy rather than deleting the original. Do not treat an older Undo Save tags menu item as an undo of the more recent file transfer.

Remove rows while retaining files

  1. Select the rows to stop showing.
  2. Choose Edit → Remove from list. With the file list focused, Delete performs this list removal; macOS also uses Backspace.
  3. If those rows have pending edits, read the discard confirmation. Accepting removes their unsaved field/artwork intent along with the rows.
  4. Reopen the file or its folder when needed. The disk still contains the last saved metadata, not the discarded pending values.

File → Clear list applies to the entire workspace, rather than only the selection. It can include rows outside the current filter. Neither operation is recorded as an Undo action for list membership. Opening files again is not a recovery of discarded edits. Resolve edits first when keeping them matters.

Delete through the trash or delete permanently

For ordinary local files, Delete files… requests the desktop system's Recycle Bin/trash. The normal confirmation describes the selected names and count. Options → Messages → at deleting files controls whether that confirmation appears; a missing prompt does not mean that the command is a list-only operation.

After the operation, successful files leave the list and failures remain reported. A locked or unavailable file can fail while another is deleted. Do not repeat the whole selection without checking what already happened. If recovery is needed, inspect the system trash and use its restore command, then reopen the restored files. Trash behavior and recoverability depend on the OS, volume and permissions; this guide does not qualify a native trash round-trip on your machine.

Permanent deletion bypasses the trash

Delete files permanently… does not create an OpenTag Undo step or a trash copy. Keep a separate backup before using it. Its confirmation can also be suppressed by the deletion-message preference. Use the menu label deliberately instead of experimenting with modifier keys on real files.

The inspected backend accepts regular files for transfer/deletion and rejects folders and symbolic-link entries. This is not a recursive folder-deletion command. File operations require desktop/local filesystem access. Chapter rows are not separate audio files: copy/move/delete are unavailable for such rows. Turn off List chapters as separate files and reload the directory to work with the parent file. Provider documents have separate access and publication rules; do not substitute these desktop instructions for them.

Reveal or play without changing metadata

File → Open in Finder/Explorer/file manager reveals selected files. With no selection, it can open the current working folder. Alt+Enter provides the file-list reveal route. For filesystem properties, reveal the file and use the file manager's properties/info command.

File → Play (F4 with the file list focused) asks the desktop to open files with their default application. More than ten selected rows triggers a confirmation; the backend limits the distinct resolved playback files to 100. Chapter/CUE playback resolves the referenced audio file, not an independent new file per displayed row. Starting an application is not proof that it played every track or understood chapter positions.

Reveal and Play do not save pending tag edits. A player reads the saved file, which can differ from what OpenTag currently shows as pending. Configured external tools have their own per-file and argument rules; they are not the same as default playback.

Gotchas and recovery

Keep the result message, destination and per-file errors until the state is clear. If a copy/move partially completes, compare the original and destination folders before choosing the smaller remaining selection. If deletion partly completes, inspect the trash or backup before doing anything permanent.

Close or pause other programs that are rewriting the same files. Pending tag edits, session Undo and an external application's changes are three different states; none replaces an independent audio-file backup.