# Unable to add cover art
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [July 26, 2019, 9:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997 "2019-07-26T09:09:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@marcoponte](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/marcoponte)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 9:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/1 "2019-07-26T09:09:04Z")
I'm using MP3TAG v2.97 on Windows 10
The problem occurs with some mp3 files that do not show cover art in MP3TAG and after copying to my smartphone with Google Play Music.
The cover art is visible in Windows Media Player and in File Explorer.
The TagID is ID3v2.3 for all my MP3 files
Add Cover using MP3TAG does not work. The size of the jpg file is 12 KB
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 9:38am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/2 "2019-07-26T09:38:49Z")
The search in this forum with the keywords "google play cover" would have shown you this thread:
> [@Google Play Music not recognizing embedded cover art](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/google-play-music-not-recognizing-embedded-cover-art/45651):
>
> For about a year now, any mp3 files I upload into Google Play Music that I have edited with MP3Tag do not show any artwork. I have to go manually add the artwork. It used to work fine. I thought maybe it was something on the Google side, but then I found out mp4 files DO display the embedded cover. I just downloaded tag & rename to do a test, and sure enough, the files edited with T&R showed the cover art in GPM just fine. Is this unique to me? Is there a setting I need to adjust? I don't want t…
Does that help?
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### Author:  [@marcoponte](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/marcoponte)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 9:50am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/3 "2019-07-26T09:50:33Z")
Initially i added the coverart with WMP on Windows 10. For most mp3 files it is working ok, except for some. Adding coverart to these MP3 files with MP3TAG does not work. As explained : WMP and File Explorer show the coverart. So, maybe the cover art is embedded somewhere else ?
As an experiment i used MP3TAG to remove coverart from a MP3 file that shows coverart in Play Music and added the coverart again and that works fine
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 9:56am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/4 "2019-07-26T09:56:40Z")
> [@marcoponte](#):
>
> Initially i added the coverart with WMP on Windows 10
WMP is no tagging program.
Could you apply the following filter and see if the covers are really embedded in the files:
%\_covers% MISSING
This should show no files.
All files that show up do not have embedded covers.
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### Author:  [@marcoponte](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/marcoponte)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/5 "2019-07-26T10:08:35Z")
Yes, the files that i mention do show up after applying the filter. So, the issue is : why can i not add the cover using MP3TAG
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/6 "2019-07-26T13:31:51Z")
> [@marcoponte](#):
>
> why can i not add the cover using MP3TAG
Hard to say, as I cannot look over your shoulder. So I don't know whether it is a handling problem or something with the files.
So how do you try to embed the covers?
The files could be in a format that does not support covers. So what format are they?
The settings to read, write and delete tags could be inconsistent so that you write tags that you don't read - see File\>Options\>Tags\>Mpeg for that with special attention to the settings for APE tags.
The files could be corrupt, see [How to check files for errors?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-check-files-for-errors/44633) for tools to check MP3 files.
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/unable-to-add-cover-art/45997/7 "2026-02-09T12:28:11Z")