# Renaming files according to list
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [September 20, 2006, 10:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791 "2006-09-20T10:45:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Galahad](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Galahad)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2006, 10:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/1 "2006-09-20T10:45:48Z")
I have about 500 files to be renamed according to a list (like this: [500 songs](http://countrymusic.about.com/library/top500/ptop500.htm)).
Is there any way to do this ?
I guess it would be kinda hard as MP3Tag would have to have some 'predictive pattern' to guess the filenames as the files are all helter-skelter (they usually have artist, song or both artist and song information in the filename)
Anyways, I would like to thank Florian for making one of the best programs I have ever used regardless of category!
PS. Is the Amazon wish-list still valid? :wink:
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### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/2 "2006-09-20T13:54:42Z")
> [@Galahad](#):
>
> I have about 500 files to be renamed according to a list (like this: [500 songs](http://countrymusic.about.com/library/top500/ptop500.htm)).
> Is there any way to do this ?
Is it right, that you will work with this list?
There are 494 entries that follow the same mask **^\d\* "._" - ._$** and 6 entries are set up in their own way.
418 "Y'all Come Back Saloon - Oak Ridge Boys
404 "Can't Break It To My Heart - Tracy Lawrence
344 Me And You - Kenny Chesney
328 "Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A. - Donna Fargo
252 "Gentle On My Mind" Glen Campbell
33 "Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb
Correct these entries following the mask above. Afterwards a set of conversions, 'textfile to tag' + 'tag to filename', will do the job, supposing the files are ordered in the same way as the list.
DD.20060920.1752
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### Author:  [@Galahad](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Galahad)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/3 "2006-09-21T04:49:25Z")
Thank you for taking the time to answer.
This is the actual list I want to work with. Part of my problem is that my files are in random order. They can sometimes be named **Bop - Dan Seals.mp3** , sometimes **Dan Seals - Bop.mp3** and other times just **Bop.mp3**. And some of the time there will be and album name or other random text in between.
The only returning pattern is that my songs at least have **part** of the correct filename from the list.
Can this be done?
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### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2006, 10:31am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/4 "2006-09-21T10:31:29Z")
> [@Galahad](#):
>
> ... Part of my problem is that my files are in random order. They can sometimes be named **Bop - Dan Seals.mp3** , sometimes **Dan Seals - Bop.mp3** and other times just **Bop.mp3**. And some of the time there will be and album name or other random text in between.
> The only returning pattern is that my songs at least have **part** of the correct filename from the list.
Do you experienced in ordering a Mp3tag filelist manually using **[Alt]+MouseLeftDragging**?
So this may be your first choice.
Once you have ordered the Mp3tag filelist along your reference list by view and hand, you should insert a temporary helper tagfield into all of your files, that carries a walking number from 001 to 500 set up by an action "tagfield format 'NUM / $num(%\_counter%,3)'" to prevent you from re-ordering manually the whole list in case of accident.
The next step should be a conversion from textfile to tag. It can make sense to insert the data from textfile temporarily into new tagfields. Afterwards use these new tagfields as input for the next step conversion from tag to filename. At end of all your processing you can delete the temorary tagfields.
Because your musicbase filenames are structured in different manners and because there is no function in Mp3tag which can determine how similar two strings in relation to themselves would be, at this time I do not see another practicable way in Mp3tag.
DD.20060921.1333
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### Author:  [@Galahad](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Galahad)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/5 "2006-09-22T12:10:16Z")
This sounds like a hefty manual task. I was **hoping** MP3Tag had some feature that would somehow make this happen.
I will try this approach tonight and see how it work, but it sounds like a bit too much manual work.
Making MP3Tag do this would perhaps be a **feature request** , that is;
Read a filename
Comapre that filename with items on a list
Pick the item that "most closely match" with filename
(Maybe some user interaction is required for confirmation)
Rename/tag file according to the picked item.
Loop
Thanks for the answer.
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/renaming-files-according-to-list/3791/6 "2026-02-09T12:19:54Z")