# Delete parts before / after specific characters
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [January 18, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527 "2026-01-18T12:55:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@music-laura](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/music-laura)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/1 "2026-01-18T12:55:01Z")
Hi all,
I tried so many things and read some old forums here, but it didn’t help.
My filename is always the same for an audiobook:
Book title - subtitle (year, artist)
Example: ABC - DEF (2026, Joe Roe)
I copy the filename and insert in: title, interpret, and album.
Via grouping actions, I want:
**Titel** :
ABC
(Delete everything with and after “ \_ “)
**Interpret** :
Joe Roe
(Delete everything until “(“ and the next 5 characters, and delete the last character)
**Album** :
ABC - DEF
(Delete everything with and after “ (“)
Can anybody help me here?
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/2 "2026-01-18T13:07:12Z")
One suggestion is
a) Convert Filename - Tag with
Formatstring:
`%title% - %album% (%year%, %artist%)`
followed by
b) Convert Tag - Tag with
Field: **ALBUM**
Format string:
`%title% - %album%`
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/3 "2026-01-18T13:07:13Z")
> [@music-laura](#):
>
> I copy the filename and insert in: title, interpret, and album.
Why don't you put the data with Convert\>Filename - Tag into the correct fields straightaway?
Format string: `%album% - %title% (%year%, %artist%)`
---
### Author:  [@music-laura](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/music-laura)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2026, 8:32am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/4 "2026-01-19T08:32:51Z")
Thank you
LyricsLover and ohrenkino.
I didn’t know that this function exist.
However, I can’t choose this option in the grouping actions area, right? I would prefer a 1 click solution at the end 🙂
To make it more specific why I came up with my initial idea above:
The folder name is: Book title - subtitle (year, artist)
The filename: Book title (year, artist)
This is because I like when the filename is short, and sometimes the subtitle is really long 🙂
So what I do is:
1. I create the folder name: Book title - subtitle (year, artist)
2. Copy the folder name and use it for the filename; however, delete the subtitle manually with the keyboard.
3. mp3tag: put the file in it, insert the whole long name “Book title - subtitle (year, artist)” into title, interpret, and album and start deleting by each the irrelevatn part.
I know this is not efficient, but with your suggestion, I couldn’t find the option of “filename - tag” in the group action section. Is there one? If yes, I could use your suggestion and as the last step: make filename `%title% (%year%, %artist%)`. And done 🙂
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2026, 9:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/5 "2026-01-19T09:02:32Z")
> [@music-laura](#):
>
> I couldn’t find the option of “filename - tag” in the group action section.
That is why we wrote
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> Convert\>Filename - Tag
and
> [@LyricsLover](#):
>
> Convert Filename - Tag
The function can be found in the Convert menu.
If you want to include the folder in your search for data, expand the
Format string: `%title%\%album% - %dummy% (%year%, %artist%)`
And to get your process right: it should be the other way round: you fill the tag fields first and then create filenames and folder names from it.
See also the documentation:
> **[Renaming Files based on Tags - First Steps – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/getting-started/first-steps/#renaming-files-based-on-tags)**
>
> This is a collection of tasks with step-by-step instructions intended for novice users of Mp3tag. | A collection of tasks with step-by-step instructions intended for novice users of Mp3tag. Mp3tag is the universal Tag Editor.
The converters and its various incarnations should be known to you since this thread:
> [@Delete in Title "(Remastered in year xxxx)"](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-in-title-remastered-in-year-xxxx/60323):
>
> i searched in the forum but didn't find a solution. some albums have at the end of the title brackets which includes "remastered", like (remastered in 2020) (remastered in 2022) (remastered in new york) (2016 remastered) (remastered edition) how can i create an action for a title with the logic: "delete the brackets and the text within in case it contains the word remastered"?
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/6 "2026-01-19T10:37:27Z")
> [@music-laura](#):
>
> So what I do is:
>
> 1. I create the folder name: Book title - subtitle (year, artist)
> 2. Copy the folder name and use it for the filename; however, delete the subtitle manually with the keyboard.
> 3. mp3tag: put the file in it, insert the whole long name “Book title - subtitle (year, artist)” into title, interpret, and album and start deleting by each the irrelevatn part.
I would recommend solving it this way:
a) Manually name your file with the "longer" version as `Book title - subtitle (year, artist)`
b) Let Mp3tag fill the tags as mentioned above from your filename with Convert Filename - Tag
c) Let Mp3tag create your foldername and rename your filename inside the folder name.
**or as an alternative, you could**
a) Fill the book title, the subtitle, the year and the artist directly in the matching fields `TITLE`, `ALBUM`, `YEAR` and `ARTIST` of your file
b) Let Mp3tag create your foldername and let Mp3tag rename your filename inside the folder name as you like it.
---
### Author:  [@music-laura](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/music-laura)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/7 "2026-01-24T10:21:05Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> The converters and its various incarnations should be known to you since this thread:
I read this of course, but again, I did not fully get the logic and it was not working.
However, now it works and I thank you all for the fast reply.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/delete-parts-before-after-specific-characters/70527/8 "2026-02-23T10:21:05Z")
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