General options¶
Open File → Options… → General to control everyday selection, sorting, and typing behavior. These settings affect the editor rather than the contents of saved tags.
New to this?
Leave automatic saving off until the difference between selecting a file, editing a field, and saving tags is familiar. Automatic selection and automatic saving are separate settings.
General¶
| Setting | Default | Effect and when to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Show current directory in window title | On | Add the working folder to the title, for example OpenTag — /Music/Juniper Vale. Useful with several windows or similar album folders. With no folder loaded, the title remains OpenTag. |
| Automatically select next file when editing in file view | Off | After committing an edit in a file-list cell, move the selection to the next file. Enable for entering a sequence of titles down a column; disable when several fields on one file need attention. |
| Auto-completion at selection boxes | On | Complete typed prefixes using available values in tag-panel fields and file-list cells. The added suffix is selected, so further typing replaces it. Disable if suggestions interfere with free typing. |
| Use natural sorting (1, 2, 11, …) | On | Treat digit sequences numerically: Track 2 precedes Track 11. With it off, textual sorting can place Track 11 before Track 2. This changes list order, not track fields or filenames. |
| Select files automatically when they are added to the list | Off | Select incoming files after adding them. Useful for adding one album and immediately editing it; check the resulting selection before a batch command. |
| Keep moved files in the file list | On | Retain files moved outside a listed folder. With it off, those files leave the list after a move unless they have pending changes. This does not delete the moved files. |
Completion matches prefixes without regard to case and retains the characters already typed. If a candidate is Juniper Vale and the typed text is ju, the suggested text starts ju and completes the rest. Empty input is not filled automatically, and pasting does not trigger this inline completion. The candidates depend on the field's custom value lists and current selection.
Even with automatic selection off, loading files into an empty, unselected list selects an initial file for inspection. The setting controls selecting the incoming batch, not a guarantee that the list will have no selected row.
Notification area¶
Both controls default to off. Always show icon in notification area keeps a tray icon available. Minimize to notification area hides the minimized window and its taskbar entry; click the tray icon or choose Show OpenTag from its menu to return.
These controls are for Windows and Linux. Linux requires notification-area support, including libayatana-appindicator. On macOS the controls are unavailable; minimized windows use the Dock. Do not look for a Windows-style tray setting to recover a minimized Mac window.