# Special Characters in Tag, but not Filename
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [November 4, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551 "2003-11-04T17:03:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@beaker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/beaker)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551/1 "2003-11-04T17:03:13Z")
Windows doesn't like / : \* ? " \< \> | in filenames, but I would like them in the ID3 tag. I think this is possible using regular expressions or maybe even something simpler, but here's my question...
Since one could not have the filename:
"Depeche Mode ~ Enjoy the Silence (Quad: Final Mix).mp3"
Would it be possible to take this filename:
"Depeche Mode ~ Enjoy the Silence (Quad&COLON& Final Mix).mp3"
and tag the MP3 with the proper song title "Enjoy the Silence (Quad: Final Mix)" and rename the file:
"Depeche Mode ~ Enjoy the Silence (Quad Final Mix).mp3"
(ie just remove "&COLON&", not necessarily replace it with a space or underscore)
Is that possible? If so, I'm missing something.
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551/2 "2003-11-05T11:31:31Z")
Hi,
you can use some replace-actions (not necessarily with regular expressions) to replace the _&COLON&_ placeholders with nothing.
Please take a look at _Options, Actions_. You can define several action groups in this dialog and can run these action groups independently from each other via the _Converter, Actions_ menu item.
Hope that helps! If you have further questions, please don't hesistate to ask.
With best regards,
~ Florian
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### Author:  [@beaker](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/beaker)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551/3 "2003-11-05T12:43:49Z")
Florian,
The answer was indeed using actions! I created an action that looked for &COLON& in TAG and replaced it with : and &COLON& in FILENAME and replaced it with nothing.
Perfect! 🙂
I'm one step closer to automating my ripping/tagging process. Thanks again.
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551/4 "2003-11-25T18:41:07Z")
With the latest [Development Build](http://developer.mp3tag.de) it's also possible to use the build in scripting function
**$validate("%i - %a - %n - %t", "-")**
at _Tag - Filename_ to replace all invalid characters in the generated filename by the dash character.
This feature will be included in the next version Mp3tag V.2.16.
Regards,
~ Florian
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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/special-characters-in-tag-but-not-filename/551/5 "2026-02-09T12:19:10Z")