# Adjust Time Formatting for Individual File Durations

**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [May 1, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151 "2026-05-01T15:40:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![DataCleaner](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@DataCleaner](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DataCleaner)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151/1 "2026-05-01T15:40:34Z")

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I’d like to propose a small but meaningful improvement to how Mp3tag displays the duration of _individual_ media files in the status area.

Currently, when a single long file is selected, Mp3tag expresses its length in a mixed format such as: 1 day, 10:56:36

This format is perfectly reasonable for _aggregate_ library statistics (e.g., total playtime of all files), but it’s less convenient when inspecting a single file. For individual tracks—especially long-form audio like audiobooks, DJ sets, or archival recordings—a continuous hour-based format is far easier to read and compare at a glance.

**Proposed change**

For single‑file selections, display the duration using a continuous hour format: 34:56:36

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### Author: ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151/2 "2026-05-01T15:59:02Z")

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You could create a column that uses %\_length\_seconds% as the numeric basis which you the divide by suitable numbers.  
Then you have the the duration in the desired format for each file without the need to select it first.  
e.g. `$div(%_length_seconds%,3600):$div($mod(%_length_seconds%,3600),60):$mod(%_length_seconds%,60)`

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![DataCleaner](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@DataCleaner](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DataCleaner)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151/3 "2026-05-08T20:14:28Z")

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I should clarify, this is for the bottom right selected/total display, not for column display.

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/adjust-time-formatting-for-individual-file-durations/71151/4 "2026-05-08T20:16:55Z")

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> [@DataCleaner](#):
>
> bottom right selected/total display

Yes, I got that.  
But until it is implemented, you could use my suggestion as a workaround.