When your music files have messy or inconsistent filenames like track01.mp3 or audio_file_99.mp3, Zortam’s Rename Files Using Tags tool allows you to automatically rename physical files on disk based on existing ID3 metadata tags (Artist, Title, Album, Track Number, Year, and Genre).

1. Pattern Variable Quick Reference

Zortam uses numeric placeholders to represent ID3 tag fields when generating new filenames or directory structures.

2. Common Renaming Patterns & Subfolder Creation

Select a preset pattern from Select Tags, type a format into Custom Tags, or use backslashes (\) to organize files into subfolders:

• %1 - %2 → Artist - Title.mp3 (e.g., Coldplay - Yellow.mp3)
• %4 - %1 - %2 → Track - Artist - Title.mp3 (e.g., 01 - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody.mp3)
• %1\%3\%4 - %2 → Creates folder structure: Artist\Album\Track - Title.mp3

3. How to Rename Your Audio Files Step-by-Step

1. Select the audio files you want to rename in the main library grid.
2. Open Rename Files Using Tags from the Tools menu (or press F6).
3. Select a preset renaming mask from Select Tags or enter your custom mask pattern in Custom Tags.
4. Use the quick-insert buttons (Artist (%1), Title (%2), Track# (%4), etc.) to quickly assemble the filename structure.
5. Click Insert Folder into Mask (…) if you want to include dynamic subfolders in the destination file path.
6. (Optional) Check Replace underscores with spaces to convert underscore separators into clean spaces.
7. (Optional) Enable Case and choose a capitalization rule (e.g., Title Case, UPPERCASE, lowercase) to standardize filenames.
8. Click Preview to inspect the updated path in the File name preview field before changes are written.
9. Click Rename Files (or Write Tags) to rename all selected files on your hard drive.

Pro Tip: Using backslashes (\) in the custom mask (e.g., %1\%3\%4 - %2) will automatically create missing subfolders on your drive and move the renamed files into organized Artist and Album directories in one pass.