# Changing and saving MP3 meta while playing
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [May 18, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467 "2019-05-18T03:19:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chaosrealm93](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/chaosrealm93)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/1 "2019-05-18T03:19:59Z")
Hey all,
If i'm playing an MP3/FLAC file with VLC or any media player and i make a change to the metadata (title etc.) in mp3tag and save it, all while the file is playing in VLC, will i damage/corrupt the file in any way?
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2019, 7:25am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/2 "2019-05-18T07:25:45Z")
> [@chaosrealm93](#):
>
> will i damage/corrupt the file in any way
No-one can guarantee that you don't.
It is never a good idea to let more than program access a file at the same time.
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### Author:  [@chaosrealm93](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/chaosrealm93)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/3 "2019-05-18T14:00:52Z")
Is it obvious when a file is corrupted? Is there a way/program to tell?
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/4 "2019-05-18T14:47:46Z")
If you suspect that something like a corruption happened, see this collection of tools that also look at the audio part.
> [@How to check files for errors?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-check-files-for-errors/44633):
>
> It’s required and often helps to reduce support cycles to check files for errors before filing a bug report. Symptoms of erroneous files are often missing or wrong bitrate or length audible blips or skips tags seem to be sticky and cannot be removed There are some really good tools to check the files for errors, namely MP3 Diags — identifies many different issues in MP3 files Website: [http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net) Download: [MP3 Diags - Getting MP3 Diags](http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net/010_getting_the_program.html#binWindows) If the font size in MP3 Diags is …
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### Author:  [@Patch](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Patch)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/5 "2019-05-19T20:58:38Z")
I get around this with the following workflow:
1. In MP3Tag, Double click to open a file in your media player
2. Open Actions Dialogue box (ALT + 6)
3. Use check boxes to apply metadata (assumes you've got all of your metadata options set up as actions in MP3Tag)
4. Hit stop on your media player
5. Go back to MP3Tag, and click OK on your actions dialogue box
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### Author:  [@chaosrealm93](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/chaosrealm93)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/6 "2019-05-20T16:19:11Z")
hmmmm so it seems like 2 programs cant access the same file at the same time to avoid file corruption
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/7 "2019-05-20T16:25:15Z")
WMP blocks a file when it plays the file so MP3tag cannot modify it.
Probably a "dirty read" is possible but as soon as it comes to writing, problems are almost certain.
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### Author:  [@Zerow](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Zerow)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/8 "2019-05-22T18:26:30Z")
If I play MP3 file in Winamp 5.666, I can safely edit tags in it via Mp3tag- because MP3s are apparently loaded 100% to that player. Proof: I can move that file around / delete it, at no pop up window will show up; and unless the playback reaches the end of such tampered with file or I press STOP, I can replay such moved / deleted file without sweat
This however does not work for other formats- to my despair
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More about locked files by means of playback:
> [@APE files problem](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ape-files-problem/17672):
>
> I get this strange behavior from APE files: if I play an APE file in Winamp, I have to first close it before I can move it to other folder. Also, if the APE file has been played in Winamp, I have to close it before I can save changes done to it in Mp3tag. Somehow the files gets blocked by Winamp- and the same hing happens with Media Player Classic. And with BS.Player Pro, if I have an APE loaded to it, I can change tags in it via Mp3tag with no problem; but if I move it to some other folder then…
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/changing-and-saving-mp3-meta-while-playing/45467/9 "2026-02-09T12:28:05Z")