# "Remove tag" as an Action
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [November 19, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138 "2010-11-19T19:30:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MillmoorRon](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MillmoorRon)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/1 "2010-11-19T19:30:31Z")
I'm probably missing something really obvious but...
Can the "remove tag" feature (toolbar button with red cross) be performed as part of an action?
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### Author:  [@pone](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/pone)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/2 "2010-11-20T01:06:45Z")
Action: Remove Fields Except
Fields to leave: dummy
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### Author:  [@MillmoorRon](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MillmoorRon)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/3 "2010-11-20T08:46:41Z")
> [@pone](#):
>
> Action: Remove Fields Except
> Fields to leave: dummy
Thanks, but could you please explain what 'dummy' is/does?
To clarify my question:
Some of my older files have multiple tag types and I wish to retain only ID3v2 tags.
I have some actions set up to tidy up the format of the tags for consistency.
In the options I have ID3v1 and APE ticked under 'remove' and only ID3v2 ticked under 'write'.
After applying my actions I currently have to manually press the red cross (CTRL-R).
The 'remove fields except' command only seems to remove tag fields not the entire unwanted tag types.
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### Author:  [@pone](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/pone)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/4 "2010-11-20T12:18:40Z")
> [@MillmoorRon](#):
>
> Thanks, but could you please explain what 'dummy' is/does?
I used dummy because you must give a field here. Otherwise the action can not be performed. I've chosen dummy because %dummy% is used at ohert places in mp3 tag (e.g. guess values) to represent something that is ignored. So it's unlikely that somebody acctually has this tag field.
> [@](#):
>
> To clarify my question:
>
> Some of my older files have multiple tag types and I wish to retain only ID3v2 tags.
> I have some actions set up to tidy up the format of the tags for consistency.
> In the options I have ID3v1 and APE ticked under 'remove' and only ID3v2 ticked under 'write'.
> After applying my actions I currently have to manually press the red cross (CTRL-R).
>
> The 'remove fields except' command only seems to remove tag fields not the entire unwanted tag types.
I guess you are right about that.
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### Author:  [@MillmoorRon](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MillmoorRon)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/5 "2010-11-22T17:11:33Z")
Is there a preferred way to log a feature request for a future version?
Or will it be seen here?
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/6 "2010-11-28T19:16:48Z")
> [@MillmoorRon](#):
>
> Or will it be seen here?
Yes.
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### Author:  [@awx](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/awx)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/7 "2011-04-03T14:12:53Z")
> [@MillmoorRon](#):
>
> I'm probably missing something really obvious but...
>
> Can the "remove tag" feature (toolbar button with red cross) be performed as part of an action?
Oh, I'm waiting for this too. It'll be a lot easier to masstag tracks with unwanted tags 🙂
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### Author:  [@JJ\_Johnson](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JJ_Johnson)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/8 "2011-04-03T21:00:47Z")
Removing and managing tags (not fields) has always been awkward, confusing, and somewhat error-prone in Mp3tag. Probably it's single weakest point.
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### Author:  [@awx](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/awx)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/9 "2011-06-13T17:30:42Z")
Florian, any progress on this missing feature? 
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### Author:  [@Splinty](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Splinty)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/10 "2011-10-20T14:50:10Z")
Does guys you find out a way to delete (remove, clear, wipe) all tag information from mp3 file by means of action? I mean the same thing what Ctrl-R does, when all checkboxes in File - Options-Tags MPEG-Remove section are checked.
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### Author:  [@progprog](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/progprog)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/11 "2011-10-22T16:50:26Z")
See post #2 above. Pone shows how to use the "Remove Fields Except" action with a dummy target. This way, there are no exceptions....everything is removed.
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### Author:  [@Splinty](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Splinty)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/12 "2011-10-24T01:48:38Z")
> [@progprog](#):
>
> See post #2 above. Pone shows how to use the "Remove Fields Except" action with a dummy target. This way, there are no exceptions....everything is removed.
It really works! 🙂 Oh, sorry, i didn't understand it from first glance. MP3TAG seems to be a perfect 🙂
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### Author:  [@JJ\_Johnson](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JJ_Johnson)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/13 "2011-10-24T02:21:06Z")
From what I've seen with Flac files, this doesn't actually remove the tag, it only removes all of the fields from the tag.
If I remove all fields from a Flac file, Mp3tag shows that there is no longer a Flac tag (which is actually a metadata block of type 4 (VORBIS\_COMMENT). This is incorrect. If you examine the file with metaflac.exe you can see that the VORBIS\_COMMENT block is empty, but it's still there.
```
E:\Music\Brian Jonestown Massacre\Methodrone>metaflac --list --block-type=VORBIS_COMMENT "02 Wisdom.flac"
METADATA block #2
type: 4 (VORBIS_COMMENT)
is last: false
length: 40
vendor string: reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
comments: 0
```
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### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/14 "2011-10-24T03:13:35Z")
> [@JJ Johnson](#):
>
> ... you can see that the VORBIS\_COMMENT block is empty, but it's still there. ...
Maybe because in the list of blocks there is a following block PADDING, which collects the freed-up space.
DD.20111024.0714.CEST
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### Author:  [@JJ\_Johnson](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JJ_Johnson)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/15 "2011-10-24T03:27:46Z")
I just tested it with some Mp3 files containing ID3v1.1 and ID3v2.3 tags and it does appear to remove the entire tag when all fields are removed. Maybe there's some particular reason that Mp3tag doesn't remove the entire Flac tag and then pretends it's not there. Perhaps to avoid removing the 'vendor string' information, but that's just a guess.
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### Author:  [@JJ\_Johnson](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/JJ_Johnson)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/16 "2011-10-24T03:30:21Z")
BTW, the proper way to do this is to use the keyword 'NONE'.
_Action type:_ **Remove fields except**
_Fields to leave:_ **NONE**
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### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/17 "2011-10-24T04:01:53Z")
> [@JJ Johnson](#):
>
> BTW, the proper way to do this is to use the keyword 'NONE'....
No, that will leave the tag-field NONE, like the other proposal, which will leave the tag-Field DUMMY, in case such tag-fields had been created in the file.
I like this method ...
_Action type:_ **Remove fields except**
_Fields to leave:_ **;**
This will remove all tag-fields, even when there is a tag-field with the name ";".
DD.20111024.0808.CEST
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### Author:  [@progprog](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/progprog)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/18 "2011-10-24T05:23:18Z")
I assume, though it's not written this way, that pone meant %dummy% (not "dummy" by itself), as it's treated the same way %dummy% is used in naming schemes. That is, it's treated as a non-entity, a "variable" to be ignored.
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### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/19 "2011-10-24T08:12:57Z")
While setting up the action "Remove fields except" and filling the edit line "Fields to leave" be aware of:
Writing tag-field placeholders or values like %ARTIST% is bad syntax for this action.
Writing **tag-field names** like ARTIST is correct syntax for this action.
DD.20111024.1212.CEST
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### Author:  [@Splinty](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Splinty)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138/20 "2011-11-19T03:58:41Z")
Well, guys, i don't know what is the matter, but for me it works, when file contains ID3V2 only. When it contains both ID3V2 and ID3V1 MP3TAG removes ID3V2, ID3V1 and... get a ID3V1 Track and Tile tags filled with Track 1, 1 Track 2, 2 etc ☹
[Next page](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/remove-tag-as-an-action/11138.md?page=2)