# Does removing padding remove data or does it just remove what's not required **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [June 18, 2021, 10:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551 "2021-06-18T10:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/stevehero/32/337_2.png) [@stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/stevehero)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 10:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/1 "2021-06-18T10:49:20Z")
If say I use [metaflac](https://xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_metaflac.html#metaflac_shorthand_add_padding) or [ID3](https://github.com/squell/id3) to remove the padding for FLAC and MP3s'. ID3.exe command: `ID3 -2 -s 0 "file"` metaflac.exe command: `metaflac --preserve-modtime --dont-use-padding --remove --block-type=PADDING "file"` If I use the commands for both to remove padding, does it affect any existing tags (remove them) or does it just remove what's not needed with regards to padding? ---
**Author:** ![Wannastayunercover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@Wannastayunercover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Wannastayunercover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/2 "2021-06-18T18:31:54Z")
> There is but one reason to use padding: since ID3v2 tags are stored at the beginning of the file, it would be a major pain to rewrite the entire multi-megabyte file to add a 50-byte frame. Padding reserves space in advance. source : [https://id3.org/id3guide#Padding](https://id3.org/id3guide#Padding) it's lossless ---
**Author:** ![stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/stevehero/32/337_2.png) [@stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/stevehero)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/3 "2021-06-18T18:55:52Z")
Thanks for the reply. I wonder if FLAC is the same with the `metaflac` command where it only removes what it needs to. ---
**Author:** ![Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/florian/32/5759_2.png) [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/4 "2021-06-18T19:16:26Z")
I haven't tried the ID3 tool and checked how it's handling the tag rewrites — so I can't tell if the rewrite is lossless. But the `metaflac` command only removes the padding block and leaves the other data untouched. ---
**Author:** ![stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/stevehero/32/337_2.png) [@stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/stevehero)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/5 "2021-06-18T19:40:27Z")
Thanks for that @Florian. How would the best way to test be? Add lots of tags and run the command to check? ---
**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/does-removing-padding-remove-data-or-does-it-just-remove-whats-not-required/53551/6 "2026-02-09T12:29:17Z")