When tags you typed into Audacity's Metadata Editor are missing from the exported file, the export format usually decided it — not a setting you forgot. Audacity's manual states that most export formats support at least the seven default tags, "but support in player applications varies from almost universal for the ID3 tags used by MP3 and MP2 to very limited for WAV."
So the same seven fields can travel perfectly into an MP3 and land in a WAV that your player refuses to show. And there is a second cause that looks like a bug but is documented behaviour: the tags can be gone before you ever reach the export dialog.
What Audacity actually writes into each format
The Metadata Editor's seven default tags are, verbatim from the manual, "Artist Name", "Track Title", "Album Title", "Track Number", "Year", "Genre" and "Comments". What happens to them next depends entirely on the format you pick.
MP3 and MP2. The manual is specific: "For both MP3 and MP2, only ID3v2.3 tags are exported. ID3v1 can be exported using Cmd-line export." If something in your workflow reads ID3v1 only, a normal export will look empty to it.
WAV. This is where most of these reports come from. Audacity does write tags — "For WAV files, Audacity exports metadata in a RIFF INFO chunk for all seven default tags plus "Copyright" and "Software". It also exports all the entered tags as ID3 tags." The problem is on the reading side. The manual says that some applications "such as those made by Microsoft can only read INFO tags in WAV files, in which case the only customized tags they will see will be "Copyright" and "Software"." And about Apple's player it is blunt: "Some applications such as Apple Music/iTunes will not see tags in WAV files."
Formats that go through FFmpeg. The manual notes that "Some audio formats supported by the optional FFmpeg library may not export complete metadata," and the Custom FFmpeg page adds that Audacity inherits FFmpeg's constraints — "The limitations apply to both specific formats and codecs and to their metadata."
And one rule with no exceptions at all, quoted exactly: "For all formats, Audacity currently discards any existing lyrics or album art when exporting."
That sentence is the answer to a question thousands of people ask in the wrong place. If your source file had embedded cover art or a lyrics frame, Audacity is not going to carry it through, in any format. Note the scope carefully: the manual names lyrics and album art. It does not say the other tags are discarded.
The cause that catches everyone: importing replaces project metadata
Before blaming the export, look at what importing did. From the Importing Audio page: "Each time an audio file is imported into the same project window, the metadata tags for that file replace the previously stored metadata for the project. So if the last imported file has no metadata, the project will no longer have any stored metadata."
Read that second sentence again. Drop an untagged sound effect, a bed of room tone, or a second take into a project that already had complete tags, and the project is left with nothing. Nothing warns you. The tags simply are not there at export time, and the export itself behaved perfectly.
This is why the habit that fixes most cases is not a setting — it is checking the Metadata Editor as the last step before export rather than the first.
The fastest fix
- Open the Metadata Editor immediately before exporting. You can also use the Edit Metadata button in the Export Audio dialog, which the manual names as a workaround for a related bug covered below.
- Re-type anything blank. If an import wiped the fields, they are blank rather than wrong — you will see it instantly.
- Pick a format the target application actually reads. For MP3 and MP2 that is ID3v2.3, which the manual rates as near-universal. For Apple's player specifically, the manual gives a direct instruction: "For iTunes, you can export to AIFF as an alternative lossless format with metadata support." That is the documented route when a WAV's tags will not show.
If the file you are trying to tag is an M4A rather than an Audacity project, you do not need to install anything to move it to a format whose tags are widely read — you can convert it in the browser and set the tags afterwards in your player or tag editor.
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
This runs locally in the tab, so the audio is never uploaded. The same applies coming from the other direction: if you already exported an untaggable WAV and just need something your library will index, WAV to MP3 does that pass, and M4A to MP3 handles Apple-format sources.
Other causes, in order of likelihood
You exported multiple files at once. The manual documents this as a bug in plain language: "There is a bug whereby user supplied metadata applies only to the first exported file - it does not carry through to any further files exported as part of the multiple export, instead Audacity uses the default metadata set for the second and subsequent files exported. Please see Bug #5825." The official workaround is "either: Before the export use Edit > Metadata Editor to set the default metadata set, or Use the Edit Metadata button in the Export Audio dialog and set your required metadata for the export." Worth knowing: for multiple-file exports, "the "Track Title" and "Track Number" tags are pre-filled automatically from the names and ordering of the tracks or labels."
Your tag is not one of the seven. Anything beyond the default fields is written differently. For imported MP2 and MP3 files, the manual says such metadata "will be exported as a "custom" ID3 frame. This means that exported custom tags such as "Album Artist", "BPM" or "Composer" will not be seen in Windows Media Player, Windows Explorer, iTunes or other software that ignores custom tags." So the tag is in the file; the player is skipping it.
You imported the MP3 with FFmpeg instead of the default importer. This is the hidden cost of Audacity's own workaround for malformed MP3 files. The manual spells out the trade: "All MP3 files will always be imported in future with FFmpeg, so "Artist" and "Year" tags will not be imported," because "FFmpeg does not support Metadata as well as libmad. It misses out the "Artist" and "Year" tags, while libmad supports all of Audacity's metadata fields." Only those two tags are named — do not assume the rest are affected.
You used command-line export. With the (external program) format choice, tags never get a chance: "Metadata Editor does not appear before command-line exports, nor are any tags it already contains passed to the external application. Use the appropriate command for your application to write metadata to the output file as described below." You write them in the command instead. The manual's own LAME example writes a title and a year tag:
lame - --tt "my song title" --ty 2001 "%f"The export failed outright. If you are getting an Unable to export error rather than a silently untagged file, tags are on the official list of suspects — the manual suggests reporting the error code and notes "It might be something unusual about something you are trying to export, for example badly formed tags."
How to tell it worked
Check the exported file in the application you actually care about, not in Audacity. That is the whole point of the WAV problem above: the tags can be present in the file and invisible in the player. If a format shows nothing, try the same export as MP3 — near-universal ID3 support makes it the fastest way to tell "Audacity did not write it" apart from "this player does not read it."
FAQ
Why does Audacity lose album art when I export? Because it does this on purpose, for every format. The manual states: "For all formats, Audacity currently discards any existing lyrics or album art when exporting." Add the artwork afterwards in a tag editor or your library application.
Why can't iTunes see the tags in my Audacity WAV file? The manual says directly that applications such as Apple Music/iTunes will not see tags in WAV files, and that relatively few applications read WAV metadata written by other applications. Its suggested alternative is to export to AIFF, described as a lossless format with metadata support.
My tags disappeared and I never touched the Metadata Editor. What happened? Most likely an import. Each import replaces the project's stored metadata with that file's tags, so importing a file with no metadata leaves the project with none.
Why did only the first file get my metadata when exporting multiple files? That is the documented Bug #5825. Audacity uses the default metadata set for the second and subsequent files. Set the default metadata set beforehand, or use the Edit Metadata button in the Export Audio dialog.
Does Audacity write ID3v1 tags? For MP3 and MP2 a normal export writes ID3v2.3 only. The manual says ID3v1 can be exported using command-line export. For anything the manual does not cover, check the official documentation.
More export troubleshooting in the fix guides, including why an exported Audacity MP3 won't play. Browser-based converters for every format above are in all Clapr tools. Details quoted from the Audacity Manual, checked 16 September 2026.
