# Folder renaming not working on Mac
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238
**Category:** Mac
**Created:** [November 25, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238 "2025-11-25T13:18:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gsinovsky](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/gsinovsky)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/1 "2025-11-25T13:18:37Z")
Hi, I’m trying out mp3tag on Mac, and I need to rename the folder the tracks I have loaded are in using tag information, but it’s not working. After following the instructions in other posts, I’m using the Tag - Tag option with \_DIRECTORY, but when I confirm, nothing happens, and the folder isn't renamed. Am I using it correctly? I've tried loading the parent folder containing the folder, granting full disk access to the app, and nothing. I'm on Tahoe 26.0.1.
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/2 "2025-11-25T15:32:22Z")
Can you post a screenshot of what you've entered as format string and what you expected the target folders to look like?
---
### Author:  [@gsinovsky](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/gsinovsky)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/3 "2025-11-25T16:52:49Z")
Hi Florian, thanks for the prompt response.
Here is the screenshot:
I expect this to rename the folder containing the tracks to what’s below the Formatstring, “Little Bird CDM,” in this case. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding how the functionality works?
This is the folder hierarchy:
Desktop (root folder for mp3tag)
— /Folder
```
Tracks
```
And I want to rename “Folder” to the album title.
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/4 "2025-11-25T17:24:31Z")
OK, I'm sorry — I read your previous post on the go. `_DIRECTORY` and `_FILENAME` are not available as fields at **Convert → Tag - Tag** for the Mac version.
It's possible that your files now have a `_DIRECTORY` field, which you can double-check and remove via **View → Extended Tags...**.
* * *
To achieve your goal, you can an action **Format tag field** , which fills fields or renames files and folders based on other fields content or fixed text.
This action also offers `_DIRECTORY` and `_FILENAME` as fields, where the former really renames the directory of the files. This means, that other files like PDF, JPG, & PNG files in the folder would also be moved to the new folder.
You can try this action type via **Actions → Quick Actions → Format tag field** and if you are happy with your experiments, you could create via **Actions → Actions** an action group "Move Files" with one or two actions **Format tag field** one for `_DIRECTORY` (which renames the containing folder) and one for `_FILENAME` (which renames the files).
---
### Author:  [@gsinovsky](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/gsinovsky)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/5 "2025-11-25T17:33:05Z")
That works, many thanks!
Another question, is there a way to escape square brackets? I noticed if I do this
The brackets are not included on the folder name
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/6 "2025-11-25T18:24:43Z")
> [@gsinovsky](#):
>
> The brackets are not included on the folder name
See the documentation on special characters in format strings:
> [@Format Strings and Available Placeholders](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/format-strings-and-available-placeholders/51688#characters-with-special-functionality-1):
>
> Mp3tag uses format strings in various of its features to describe the structure of file names and imported data. A format string is built of either standard text (e.g., Music), placeholders (such as %artist%, %title%, ...), or slash characters / that usually denote directory structures. Characters with Special Functionality Some characters have special functionality and need to be treated with extra care. If you experience some unexpected behavior when using format string, check if some of t…
Try `'` (single quote) around the parenthesis.
---
### Author:  [@gsinovsky](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/gsinovsky)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/7 "2025-11-25T18:33:20Z")
Got it, thank you both.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/folder-renaming-not-working-on-mac/70238/8 "2025-12-25T18:34:00Z")
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.