# Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V as actions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 5, 2022, 11:06am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114 "2022-08-05T11:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 11:06am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/1 "2022-08-05T11:06:58Z")
I'm replacing a bunch of files in my library and I'm copying the tags over to the newer files. This works, of course, but I was wondering if there was a way to put the copying or pasting into an action? I have a lot of files to do and cutting out even a couple steps would be great, since I have a few other actions I'm applying as well, and it would be cool if I could do everything in one step! Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 11:14am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/2 "2022-08-05T11:14:43Z")
If you describe - preferably step by step - what exactly you want to copy with CTRL + C and then paste (to the same or other files?) with CTRL + V, we can maybe tell you if it is possible to use an action for the same step. ---
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/3 "2022-08-05T11:47:13Z")
I only use 8 tags: TITLE;ARTIST;ALBUM;YEAR;TRACK;GENRE;ALBUMARTIST;PICTURE optional (but copied if they exist): POPULARIMETER;LANGUAGE And with certain files, I have an action that turns the filename into a COMMENT so I can copy the exact filename as well. I copy all these tags from the old file (ctrl+c) and then load the newer files into mp3tag. After that, I paste the tags into the new files (ctrl+v). If necessary I use a custom action to turn the COMMENT back into the same filename. When all that's done, I can finally copy the new files over the old files. ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/4 "2022-08-05T12:08:35Z")
To copy tags from one file to another file you have to Export the wanted tags from your "old" files into an external text file and later re-import this tags into your new files. AFAIK it's not possible to use a direct Action between different files. Export-Documentation: [Export – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/actions/export/) Import-Documentation: [Import Text File – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/actions/import-text/) There are various examples in this forum how to do that, please start with: > [@Export Action to txt](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/export-action-to-txt/40931/2): > > Hi there slight_smile You can have a look at File \> Export... where you have a export configuration txt\_taglist. It's probably the most basic one, which you can simply duplicate to have a working copy for your own needs. Based on your example from above, I suggest using something like $filename(txt,utf-8)$loop(%\_path%)%\_filename\_ext%; %track%; %title%; %\_length% $loopend() You can then [create a new action group](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/967/2) and add a new Export action to this group, selecting your export configuration … Let us know, if you need help for a specific export or import problem. ---
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/5 "2022-08-05T12:11:58Z")
thank you very much! I will give this a try 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/6 "2022-08-05T13:05:15Z")
Question, is there a way to mimic the functionality of the Convert Text File - Tag using actions? Import text file does do that, but it puts the contents of the whole file into one tag, and I'd like to be able to select multiple files and have each line in the .txt file be copied to the tag of each sequential file, like the converter. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/7 "2022-08-05T13:07:45Z")
> [@askaray](#): > > I copy all these tags from the old file (ctrl+c) and then load the newer files into mp3tag. After that, I paste the tags into the new files (ctrl+v). If you load the old and new files together, you can simply highlight the old ones and copy the tags, then highlight the new ones and paste them. Creating an action for this is not likely going to save you any amount of time I think, since the process to start the action would be no different than the right click to copy and right click to paste. Plus you can confirm that the number of files you are starting with matches the number you are copying to - if the count in the bottom right corner is different, you are going to have a mismatch on the data. ---
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:25pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/8 "2022-08-05T13:25:35Z")
The action itself wouldn't save any time, but what I'd like is to combine with other actions that I'm doing so I can do them all at once in one action group. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/9 "2022-08-05T13:51:48Z")
This could be a potentially challenging action, as there is no direct connection in mp3tag between files in the list. Running a blind action on a large batch of songs could produce unexpected results in some or all files. ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/10 "2022-08-05T13:52:56Z")
Short description: 1. Create a new or modify an existing export template with File -\> Options -\> Export and something like ```auto $filename(txt,utf-8)$loop(%_path%)"%_filename%" § %ARTIST% § %ALBUM% § %TITLE% § %YEAR% § %GENRE% $loopend() ``` 1. Select the "old" songs for which you want to export the embedded tags 2. Klick on File -\> Export and choose the template you made in 1.), then press OK This should create an export txt file with the choosen name. 3. Load the new tracks (or select them if you have already loaded them). 4. Klick on Convert -\> "Textfile to tag" ALT + 4 and choose the exported txt file from 3.) Choose the same fields and the same separators as in 1.) as Format String, something like: `"%_filename%" § %ARTIST% § %ALBUM% § %TITLE% § %YEAR% § %GENRE%` 5. As a test you can click on the Preview Button to check the result. If everything is OK, press the OK-Button to re-import the values from the txt file into the different files and different tags. ---
**Author:** ![askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@askaray](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/askaray)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/11 "2022-08-05T14:29:20Z")
Yeah, I've got the export function working, but I was just hoping to try to use an action (or set of actions) instead of the "Convert \> Text file to tag" in order to place it all within an action set. @MotleyG - yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it caused many problems... I'm working by album (which is mostly just one directory) but even then things can definitely go crazy. Thanks everyone for your help, though. Even all this info it'll save me tons of time. ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/12 "2022-08-05T14:38:33Z")
> [@askaray](#): > > @MotleyG - yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it caused many problems... I'm working by album (which is mostly just one directory) but even then things can definitely go crazy. I had a very similar use case when I re-ripped my CD library in lossless. This wasn't feasible back when I started going digital early on. But with storage prices substantially lower now, I made the move a couple of years ago. And since many of my albums had much more detail than I could typically find online, I wanted to use all of my existing tags. So like you I used copy and paste for my tags, just going from the lossy formats to the lossless files. Doing it by album made sure I was accurate too. Good luck with your project! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/ctrl-c-and-ctrl-v-as-actions/58114/13 "2026-02-09T12:29:52Z")