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Clean up a messy library

Practice a repeatable cleanup on one copied album before deciding what belongs in a larger collection. In about 20 minutes you will survey the files, save a focused action group, check its output, stage track numbers, and rename from the reviewed tags. Each stage has its own write boundary.

  • Three copied, writable whole-track files, ordered as 01_copy.mp3, 02_copy.mp3 and 03_copy.mp3; keep the originals elsewhere.
  • Each has ARTIST = Juniper Vale, ALBUM = Harbour Lights, one TITLE value from the table below, and no ALBUMARTIST.
  • Add PRACTICE_NOTE = Delete after this lesson to these practice copies in Extended tags, save, and keep all other useful fields.

In the table, · represents an ordinary space. Type real spaces in the practice titles, not the dot characters.

Practice file TITLE before TITLE after cleanup
01_copy.mp3 ··paper···BOATS·· Paper Boats
02_copy.mp3 ·lanterns··ON·the·water· Lanterns On The Water
03_copy.mp3 north··PIER North Pier

This is a particular editorial policy for invented practice text. It does not mean every title, abbreviation, credit or custom field in your real collection needs the same treatment.

1. Survey one album before changing it

Open the copied folder and inspect Filename, Title, Artist, Album and Track in the file list. Use View → Customize columns… if you need to inspect or adjust the displayed columns; custom columns explains adding fields such as album artist. A display column does not create or repair a stored field.

Select one file and inspect Extended tags…. Confirm the starting values, including the practice-only note. Close without further edits. Resolve file-read errors and save pending edits before running actions.

2. Ask one useful filter question

Show the Filter with View → Show filter and enter:

ALBUMARTIST MISSING

Wait for automatic application, or press Enter in manual mode. All three practice files should remain visible. MISSING asks whether that field is absent; an existing empty value is a different condition. The filter changes the view and writes no tags.

Clear the filter before the next stage. Choose Edit → Unselect all, then select only the three practice copies. Filtering is not a promise that previously selected hidden rows are unselected.

3. Build a narrow reusable action group

Open Actions → Actions…, choose New…, name it Practice album cleanup, then choose Edit actions…. Add these six actions in the displayed order. Choose Keep action after each one.

Scroll this table sideways on a narrow screen to keep each pattern intact.

Step Action Field Pattern / format / choice Replacement / additional setting
1 Replace with Regular Expression TITLE \A[ \t]+ Leave empty; case-sensitive comparison Off
2 Replace with Regular Expression TITLE [ \t]+\z Leave empty; case-sensitive comparison Off
3 Replace with Regular Expression TITLE [ \t]+ One actual space; case-sensitive comparison Off
4 Case Conversion TITLE Mixed Case Words begin after (-_
5 Format Value ALBUMARTIST %artist% No replacement box
6 Remove Fields PRACTICE_NOTE No format string Remove this field only

The first two regexes remove spaces/tabs at the very start and end of each title value. \A and \z mean the whole value's edges. The third compresses remaining runs of spaces/tabs into one real space. Do not type quotation marks around that replacement or leave it empty: an empty replacement would join the words.

Mixed Case capitalizes word beginnings and lowercases other letters. It produces the practice results above, including On The; it does not know your preferred short-word style, acronyms or intentional artist spelling. The capitalization recipe teaches a separate exceptions policy.

%artist% reads the first artist value and sets one album-artist value. That is suitable for this single-artist exercise. For compilations, set the intended shared album artist deliberately; for several artist values, choose a list-aware policy. Do not assume one expression establishes the correct album credit in every collection.

The last row removes the named practice field. It does not remove every unknown field. Before deleting real identifiers, lyrics or comments, inspect what they contain and which other programs need them.

4. Save the group, then run it deliberately

Check the action order, choose Keep group, then Save groups. The group is now reusable, but saving its definition has not processed the audio.

Check only Practice album cleanup and choose Apply checked groups. These actions write immediately. Selecting a group row chooses what to edit; its checkbox chooses what runs. Read the result and every per-file error. An error does not promise that earlier actions were rolled back, and ordinary action warnings can allow later actions to continue.

5. Verify a result and the fields you kept

Inspect each file's title against the starting table. Each ALBUMARTIST should now be Juniper Vale, and PRACTICE_NOTE should be absent. Verify that ARTIST, ALBUM and useful unrelated metadata remain as intended.

Run ALBUMARTIST MISSING again: these successfully cleaned copies should no longer match. Clear the filter and deliberately reselect the practice files before continuing. A clean result for this one query does not prove that every field in the album is correct.

6. Number only a known sequence

Sort by Filename so 01_copy.mp3, 02_copy.mp3, 03_copy.mp3 are in that order. Confirm that this is the intended listening order; numbering cannot discover it from the music.

Open Convert → Auto-numbering…. Set Begin at track to 1 and the track Minimum digits to 2. Leave total count, disc numbers and all counter-change/reset options off for this one-album run.

Choose Preview. Expect 01, 02, 03. Choose Stage numbers, inspect the pending values, then File → Save tags to write them. Staging alone has not saved the numbers. Some tag formats store numeric values without leading zeros; the filename expression below adds its own padding.

7. Rename only after tags are correct

Save remaining pending edits, select the same three copies and choose Convert → Tag → Filename…. Use:

$num(%track%,2) - %title%

Preview the destinations against the staged/saved track values:

Practice file Numbering result Rename destination
01_copy.mp3 01 01 - Paper Boats.mp3
02_copy.mp3 02 02 - Lanterns On The Water.mp3
03_copy.mp3 03 03 - North Pier.mp3

Check the actual destination folders and existing files too. If a rename is refused or the preview is wrong, inspect the cause; do not delete an existing destination to force this lesson through.

Apply the reviewed rename. This changes the filenames immediately and keeps their audio extensions; it is not another pending text edit.

8. Stop at a verified album, then reuse selectively

Compare the result with the kept originals. Check titles, credits, track order, filenames and any player behavior you care about. Use Edit → Undo by its operation label to reverse recorded changes in the current desktop session; the cleanup, saved numbering and rename are distinct stages. Keep originals for recovery after quitting.

For another album, survey first. Reuse the saved group only when its title, album-credit and field-removal rules suit that album. A title already clean may be unchanged by the spacing rules, but a newly added exception or a different credit structure still needs a fresh trial. Avoid applying the group blindly to a whole mixed collection.

What you learned

  • Columns and filters help ask precise questions before editing.
  • A saved action group is an ordered policy, not an automatic judgement of quality.
  • Actions write immediately; auto-numbering stages edits; saving writes those edits.
  • Field removal and album credits need explicit, collection-specific decisions.
  • Review tags before deriving filenames, and inspect each stage's errors and undo label.

Next steps