# Hints for asking Support Requests

**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [February 3, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190 "2022-02-03T16:18:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### 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: [February 3, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190/1 "2022-02-03T16:18:56Z")

</div>

If you need support using Mp3tag, you can help the community members that are about to support you in finding a solution or workaround to your problem, by following these simple guidelines.

## Be descriptive, also in what you’ve already tried

Please give a short explanation what’s not working as expected or what you’re trying to achieve. It’s best to know any details about the problem at hand and especially, **what steps you’ve already tried** to solve it by yourself. Helpful information also includes the **Mp3tag and Windows version** numbers and **what files types** you're working with. This way it's easier to know where to start helping.

Also, please use a **descriptive topic title** that gives a general idea about the contents of your support question. Do not fall back on non-specific.

Use the #Mac category for asking questions related to Mp3tag for macOS.

If you're asked any follow-up questions, please assume the best intentions, be as helpful as possible and try to answer in earnest and with the best intentions.

## Use screenshots to exemplify the issue

It’s often helpful to see what you’re doing. Because nobody here can look over your shoulders, a screenshot sometimes adds detail to your description and an experienced user can spot issues, that are not obvious for others. Especially for questions regarding tag contents, missing tag fields, and other tag-field related issues, a screenshot of the **Extended Tags Dialog** of the file in question via Alt + T is often helpful.

Please use screenshots to complement your description.

- [How to take a Screenshot on Windows](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/open-snipping-tool-and-take-a-screenshot-a35ac9ff-4a58-24c9-3253-f12bac9f9d44 "How to take a Screenshot on Windows")
- [How to take a Screenshot on macOS](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361 "How to take a Screenshot on macOS")

You can use Ctrl + V to paste a screenshot from the clipboard or use the upload button from the format palette.

![Discourse Upload Image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/optimized/2X/8/888cc176f3886ac23a7edff7aa99bc9c265fa9cc_2_345x32.png)

## Check problematic files for errors

If Mp3tag reports that the file cannot be opened for reading or writing, it’s often related to an invalid internal structure or an otherwise corrupted file.

You can spare yourself (and the people reading your question) a lot of time and back and forth by checking the files for errors using one of the recommended programs linked to from: **[How to check files for errors?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-check-files-for-errors/44633)**

An early indication of such a problem is when Mp3tag doesn’t report any details about bitrate, length, … in the respective columns in the file list.  
Starting with Mp3tag v3.12a, it also reports some of the issues found to the _Tag_ column in the file list. Please make sure you check those.

![Invalid File denoted in Tag column](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/optimized/2X/c/c4173af93918984ba90255d12ff371db7555c4f5_2_345x36.jpeg)

> In many cases the troublesome file may play correctly in some or all media players or may be editable in other metadata editors. However, this is not an indicator of whether the file structure is valid or not. In contrast to just playing a file, Mp3tag re-writes the metadata part of files and takes a cautionary approach when performing changes that might affect the audio part to prevent data loss or more damage.

## Use formatting when necessary

If your topic involves a format string, please enclose the format string in backticks ```, e.g., ``my format string`` so that spaces and other special characters like backslashes `\` and stars `*` are preserved by the forum software.  
You can also use Ctrl + E to mark the selected text as preformatted or use the corresponding symbol from the format palette.

![Discourse Format as Code](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/optimized/2X/0/086045906b1a4658e4beaec173b0d19266bec438_2_345x32.png)