# help with replace function?

**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 15, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452 "2008-03-15T13:21:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![dtye](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dtye](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dtye)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452/1 "2008-03-15T13:21:07Z")

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ok maybe im just stupid, but ive searched through all the pinned regular expressions and i cant find one that will work for what i need it to do. im sure this question has been asked before, i just cant find it, so here ya go....

what i have-  
title... 016 - Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze  
artist... 016 - Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

what i want-  
title... Jimi Hendrix  
artist... Purple Haze

any help would be MUCH appreciated, i have 3gb of music formatted like this and i really dont have an hour to manually fix all of it. thanks very much in advance

david

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### Author: ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452/2 "2008-03-15T14:04:20Z")

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I would convert the filenames in 3 steps.

Step 1: Sort your mp3 in mp3tag by filename, assuming you start with the songs  
artist..., select and mark all your songs named like this

Step 2: Use ALT-3 (Converter filename - filename)  
Mask formatstring for old filename  
%1... %2 - %3 - %4

Mask formatstring for NEW filename  
%1 %4

Check if the preview shows your desired filenames. Press OK.

Step 3:  
Repeat Step 2:  
Mask formatstring for old filename  
%1... %2 - %3 - %4

Mask formatstring for NEW filename  
%1 %3

Check if the preview shows your desired filenames. Press OK.

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### Author: ![dano](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/dano/32/6_2.png) [@dano](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dano)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452/3 "2008-03-15T15:35:43Z")

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I think it's about the tags Title and Artist, not the filename.

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### 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, 12:20pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/help-with-replace-function/6452/4 "2026-02-09T12:20:50Z")

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