# Remove number from artist field **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [February 28, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503 "2013-02-28T20:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DJ\_Beaker](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@DJ\_Beaker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DJ_Beaker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/1 "2013-02-28T20:50:28Z")
Hi People iam trying to remove the number and period that is at the start of every track name eg: 1.Pat Benitar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot.mp3 can anybody please help me out ?? ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/2 "2013-03-01T05:17:18Z")
> [@DJ Beaker](#): > > ... track name eg: > 1.Pat Benitar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot.mp3 can anybody please help me out ?? This looks like the filename to me. WHat about the tags inside the files? Are they filled? If not, I would do that first. Use the converter Filename-Tag with the mask %track%.%artist% - %title% If you really only want to rename the file (which I would not advise) then create an action of the type "Replace with regular expression" for \_FILENAME Search String: ^\d+. Replace String: (leave replace string empty) But the superior way is to fill the tags and then construct a filename out of the tags with the converter Tag-Filename as you then do no loose any information. PS: I think the Name is Pat Benatar 😉 ---
**Author:** ![voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/4da419/32.png) [@voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/voxware)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/3 "2013-03-01T14:38:58Z")
I actually came here looking for if anyone a solution for this as well. I created an action for this long ago but I lost it. I had to manually do it, I did track numbers up to 30 but then you have to do "1 - " "1. " "01 " however many configurations and do them manually so its like adding up to 100 entries Was hoping maybe someone had a script or an action for this I could already import. This numbering before the track happens most commonly when my mp3s have no tags so I put the filename where the track title is, now I have to manually edit out the number before each track field. Hopefully there's a way to automate this process. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/4 "2013-03-01T18:59:50Z")
I would say this is a new thread. Have you tried the converter "filename - tag"? Try %track% - %title% for those filenames starting with 1 - Try %track%. %title% for those filenames starting with 1. Try %track% %title% for those filenames starting with 1 It does not matter, how many digits the track number has. ---
**Author:** ![voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/4da419/32.png) [@voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/voxware)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/5 "2013-03-02T18:51:40Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > I would say this is a new thread. > Have you tried the converter "filename - tag"? > Try > %track% - %title% > for those filenames starting with 1 - > Try > %track%. %title% > for those filenames starting with 1. > Try > %track% %title% > for those filenames starting with 1 > > It does not matter, how many digits the track number has. No this is the same topic since it's the same issue the OP has I'm not trying to add track numbers to the track name, I'm trying to get rid of them. In some cases, an album will have no tags so I have to first add track names, and the file names usually have track numbers in them "01 - Song 1" then when I do "filename - tag", all the track numbers are now in the track name area. I want a way to filter them out. I tried this "^\d+." string you mentioned but it didn't do anything I originally created an action that searched for "01 - ", "01. " "1 " up to 30 but it's a bit tedious to manually add up to 30 numbers for whether it's a dash, a period, leading with 0's. I could just add the numbers themselves but there are rare cases song titles will have numbers in the name so I'd have to manually add them back in. This is looking like the easiest current solution though. so in this case I created an action where you replace the title field I added the numbers 0-9 with "" for nothing. Then I created " - " and ". " to be replaced with "" or nothing as well. The main issue here is if the track numbers are "1 Song 1" then there's still going to be a space in front of the track names after it's replaced, it will be " Song 1" after the conversion. Replacing all spaces with "" is just going to make even more work to do manually though. So then I'd need to manually to 0-9 but as "1 "-"9 " as well as "1. "-"9. " ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/6 "2013-03-02T19:21:12Z")
Please let me know what you consider a "track name" - this was a confusing term for me in the OP's post. TRACK in the context of MP3tag refers to, and then it is easier for all using this program, the field TRACK, described by the contents of the variable %track%. The track does not have a name, it is a number - the name of the field is TRACK. So, what I think what you refer to is the filename. In my opinion it is a very cumbersome way to first rename a file manually and then use the features of MP3tag - or that is, what it looks like to me. You mentioned that you tried > [@](#): > > this "^\d+." string you mentioned but it didn't do anything But you didn't tell me where. Because if you applied it in the way i described it, then it certainly would have modified the filename. You are quite right, when you say > [@](#): > > it's a bit tedious to manually add up to 30 numbers for whether it's a dash, a period, leading with 0's. I could just add the numbers themselves as for this purpose there are the regular expressions that allow you to define patterns instead of concrete strings. That pattern that did not work for you actually means: "look at the beginning of a field for any number followed by a dot" So, using such a pattern would not create 30 actions for the range of number 1 to 30 but just one. In general: you do not need Mp3tag to fiddle with filenames. MP3tag is for tagging which is adding information inside the files. In addition, after you have tagged your files, Mp3tag then allows you to rename the files. That is why I would advise to use the converter Filename-tag first to structurally split the information into fields and then use this structured information to compose new filenames. ---
**Author:** ![voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/4da419/32.png) [@voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/voxware)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/7 "2013-03-05T17:43:18Z")
Actually I'm referring to the "TITLE" field not filename. I tried this "Search String: ^\d+." replace action with the TITLE field but it did not remove the track number before the title itself within the title field. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/8 "2013-03-05T18:28:53Z")
> [@voxware](#): > > ...I tried this "Search String: ^\d+." replace action with the TITLE field ... The action has to be of the type "Replace with regular expression". If the search string still does not work, you could try to define a filter, just to check that you have files that match the pattern: Press F3 so that you see the filter input box at the bottom. C&P the following: %title% MATCHES "^\d+." Then try the replace with regular expression action on the displayed files and see if anything happens. ---
**Author:** ![voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/4da419/32.png) [@voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/voxware)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/9 "2013-03-06T03:30:19Z")
Yes I tried the action type "Replace with regular expression" I tried filtering the "%title% MATCHES "^\d+." string as well, nothing shows up after filtering. The problem here is that the track numbers within the title do not have characters like periods in the title. It doesn't seem this filter works when the title is just "01 Song 1" That would resolve the OP's issue possibly but I want to address the core issue of removing the track number from the title field whether its "01. Song 1", "01 - Song 1" "1 - Song 1" or "1 Song 1" ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/10 "2013-03-06T05:33:11Z")
> [@voxware](#): > > ... but I want to address the core issue ... Good luck, then. A regular expression relies on a defined pattern that can be translated into the syntax of the regular expression. And then the expression works only on that pattern. You, apparently, have wasted my time by telling me an arbitrary pattern that has nothing to do with the real strings - the filter delivered the proof. It is fairly bold to claim that a replace function does not work if the term you try to replace is not even in the strings. If you wanted to replace the Artist "Clapton" in a Beatles album this would not work either, right? Now back to business: No, you can't have a single expression for all patterns, the opposite is true: you have to have an individual expression for each pattern. It is now up to you to find the patterns. In post #4 you find a list of possible patterns. Now you may translate these into the regular expression syntax or create an action of the type "Import tag fields (guess values)" and the import string %dummy% - %title% for those with a hyphen or %dummy%. %title% for those with a dot. For those with a single blank after the number you would have to resort to the replace action again. By now, you should be able to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/4da419/32.png) [@voxware](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/voxware)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/11 "2013-03-09T17:05:57Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > Good luck, then. > A regular expression relies on a defined pattern that can be translated into the syntax of the regular expression. > And then the expression works only on that pattern. > You, apparently, have wasted my time by telling me an arbitrary pattern that has nothing to do with the real strings - the filter delivered the proof. > It is fairly bold to claim that a replace function does not work if the term you try to replace is not even in the strings. If you wanted to replace the Artist "Clapton" in a Beatles album this would not work either, right? > > Now back to business: > No, you can't have a single expression for all patterns, the opposite is true: you have to have an individual expression for each pattern. > It is now up to you to find the patterns. > In post #4 you find a list of possible patterns. Now you may translate these into the regular expression syntax or create an action of the type "Import tag fields (guess values)" and the import string > %dummy% - %title% for those with a hyphen or > %dummy%. %title% for those with a dot. > For those with a single blank after the number you would have to resort to the replace action again. By now, you should be able to figure it out. I think what I was hoping for was someone created an action similar to the one I've created in the past, which I could then somehow import and use. Or better yet, there would be the formula I could use to create a way to filter out the track number from the song title field. You mention "%dummy% - %title% for those with a hyphen or %dummy%. %title% for those with a dot." for the "Guess values" action How do I fill out the Source format and Guessing pattern boxes, can you break down the process I need to apply here. If this is too difficult or tedious for you, I don't mean to waste your time. I came looking for an answer to OP's question originally but they may have made things confusing with what they described as a track name. Maybe a language barrier or an inability to put technical logic into step by step layman's terms may be at fault also. I'm not sure what provoked such a hostile reaction but I apologize for antagonizing one. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/12 "2013-03-10T08:25:30Z")
The FAQs describe how to create a new action: [/t/967/1](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/967/1) and there is a link to the Guess values action [https://docs.mp3tag.de/actions/guess](https://docs.mp3tag.de/actions/guess) ---
**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, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-number-from-artist-field/14503/13 "2026-02-09T12:24:22Z")