Comments on: Refresh ID3 tags of entire music library in iTunes (Windows)

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:58:24 +0000

Hi, I’ve been researching this topic for awhile and I must say the information is great. Thanks!

By: stembrain

stembrain — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:50:04 +0000

@ToñoSecundino If you are editing the ‘comment’ tag of your mp3s using an external program, it may not work. I wrote a script using php-reader-1.8.1 from the Zend PHP framework to add the file system location of each of my mp3s to the Comment field. No matter what I tried, the comment I added did not display in itunes. I used the php-reader tools to discover that multiple sub-comments exist in the mp3. There is the comment that my external tool wrote and there is the comment that iTunes writes. They are two different comments.

By: joewonder

joewonder — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:49:50 +0000

using iTunes 10 on a Mac, I found I had to make some change to metadata to force an update. i examined the fields available and determined since there was no valuable bpm data in any of my 50k+ tracks, I would set bpm to a value of 1. it takes time to update of course, but if i wish i can set it back to nothing again. if i use an external program to calculate (and write) bpm’s, i’ll need to use a different field in the future.

By: Apps

Apps — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:59:09 +0000

Thanks, Jason. That worked for me, though it takes some time. But, at least it shoved the stubborn iTunes into action. None of the other solutions had worked for me and I don’t really care about the ‘date modified’ field.

By: Science

Science — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:00:59 +0000

Stubborn tags will update…. wait for it…. when you play the track! – just updated 400 tracks in 2 mins by tapping down arrow and return keys! safe and reliable!

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 01:31:15 +0000

• select all
• right-click
• select “convert ID3 tags…”
• check the box and select the latest version
• click “OK”

This will cause iTunes to refresh your ID3 tags (even in iTunes 10).
Beware: your “Date Modified” field will be updated to reflect the time of the refresh, so if you need that data, take note of it first.

By: artoo

artoo — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:31:53 +0000

Can’t get this to work in ITunes 10 in windows, even when I have updated the comments field.

By: TnTn

TnTn — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:18:26 +0000

Thanks Pietje, your advice worked fine!

By: Pietje

Pietje — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:00:56 +0000

If it doesn’t work if you just get the info and click on ok, try to add a comment. That way, it has to go through every song and add a comment.

By: Dario de Judicibus

Dario de Judicibus — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:39:30 +0000

OK, but it is not a real refresh: it does not remove deleted files! I really cannot understand how to remove all files that I deleted from my PC (non iTunes folders)