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Up-to-date with version 3.0.5913

Main Panel Views refers to the different ways tracks can be displayed in the main panel for most nodes. A few nodes have specialized views which are covered on their particular pages.

Configure Views[]

Main Panel Views

Main Panel Menu

At the top left of the main panel you will find a menu with view options. These are the default views available:

The menu may be hidden, in which case right click the space under the tabs to see the menu (and "unhide" if you wish).

Nodes of the library (i.e. those items in the "navigation tabs" section of Preferences > Layout (1)) will remember their view settings separately (which view, displayed fields, sort order, etc.). Changes made in one node will not affect another - with the exception that if you configure any of them to use a specific Custom View, then all nodes using that view will remain in sync. Filters will use the Music view, unless they are explicitly configured with a different view in their settings. Auto-Playlists retain their own views; Static Playlists all share the same view by default but can be configured to have different views.

Panel Layout Overrides[]

Panel Layout Overrides

Panel Layout Overrides

At the bottom of the Views Configuration window for each view (see below), there is a section that says "click to set overrides for the configured MusicBee layout." When you click, you will see the Panel Layout Overrides options. Any of the panels or elements you select here will be hidden when using that particular view (assuming they are displayed otherwise, of course).

Custom Views[]

Custom Views

Custom Views

Custom Views are selected the same way as the default views, but when you use a custom view it will remember its displayed columns, sort order, and other configuration settings independently from the default views. For instance, you might prefer to have different fields displayed for viewing classical music than pop music. You could create a "classical" view and apply it to a classical music filter or playlist.

To save a custom view, use the "Copy Current View Settings To..." command in the Custom Views menu. You will be prompted for a name to save it under (or you can select an existing .mbv file to overwrite a previous view). It will immediately appear in your Custom Views list. To delete a custom view, use the same command, delete any of the view files that you don't want, and cancel or close the window without saving anything.

You can make a custom view from any of the four default views, but you can't change which one is used once the view is saved; you'll have to make another by starting with a different default view. Changes are saved on the fly, so any change you make in one area of your library that uses a particular view will show up in all other places where that view is used.

TIP
If you don't want to make changes to the default version of a view, save a custom view BEFORE you configure it. Otherwise you will have to undo the changes to your default view later.
Saved Views

Views Configuration for Saved Views

Customize Panel[]

Just as for any of the default views, you can open the Views Configuration window from the panel menu at the top left by choosing "Customize Panel..." (the last menu item). It can also be opened from Panels Configuration by clicking the [...] button where it says "files: Panel Settings", or from Preferences > Layout (1), under main panel settings, where it says "files: Customize Layout". For custom views, it will have a special tab called "Saved Views", with a list of custom views in a menu at the top. (If you opened this from the main panel window, it will be selected for you. If you opened it from Preferences, you will be able to select any view from a menu.) Which configuration options are available will depend on the base view used.

Context Menus[]

Album-Tracks Menu

Album & Tracks context menu

MusicBee has context menus almost everywhere. Right click on a panel or item, and you'll get a list of related options. The context menu for typical main panel views is an especially dense one. The menu shown at right is from Album & Tracks view, but other library views have the same general options, with some variation depending on where you click.

Play Now

Hotkey: Alt+Enter

Activates the Play Now command as configured in Now Playing Preferences.

Queue Next

Hotkey: Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Forces the tracks to play next even when shuffling (but will add them after any other tracks added with the "Queue Next" command).

Queue Last

Hotkey: Ctrl+Enter

Adds the tracks to the end of the queue, or will queue randomly when shuffling.

Edit

Hotkey: Shift+Enter

Opens the Tag Editor for the selected tracks.

Show Artwork

Opens the album art in its own window, at full size or fit to the screen if the dimensions are larger than the monitor.

Paste Artwork

WARNING: May overwrite existing artwork.

Available when there is an image in your clipboard, so you can paste it as album art for the selected tracks. Uses settings from Tags (1).

Paste Artist Picture

Only available in Artists View. Works like Paste Artwork, except that the artist picture is saved to the Thumbs sub-directory of the artist pictures location in Tags (1).

Delete

Hotkey: Del

Will prompt you as to whether you want to delete the tracks from the library only, or from the library and the hard drive. (To force files to be deleted from the hard drive, you can use the hotkey Shift+Delete. You will still get a prompt unless you disable it in Confirmation Settings.)

Auto-Tag by Album

Hotkey: Ctrl+Shift+T

Opens the Auto-Tag by Album window and loads the selected tracks.

Search Internet for Picture

WARNING: May overwrite existing artwork.

Searches the artwork sources configured in Tags (2). The artwork search window will open unless you have unticked "confirm picture storage options when adding artwork", in which case the first image found will be automatically added based on settings in Tags (1).

Play More[]

Play More Menu

Play More...

  • Turn on or Stop Auto DJ
  • Output To
  • Play All Tracks Shuffled
    • Will load all tracks from the current panel in the Playing Tracks list, in shuffled order. Does NOT activate Shuffle.
  • Play Artist
    • As above, but plays all tracks from the selected artist.
  • Play Similar
    • As above, but plays tracks by artists rated similar by last.fm.
  • Play Album Now
  • Queue Album Next
  • Queue Album Last
  • Play Genre
    • Plays all tracks with the genre of the selected track, in order
  • Play <Field>
    • Many other fields are also available in this list, but only if you opened the menu by clicking on top of them.

Rating[]

Rating Menu

Rating

This is probably the simplest way to rate multiple tracks at once (you can also do it in the Tag Editor).

Love and Ban are last.fm designations. They can be used without last.fm, but if you have activated the Last.fm Plugin for scrobbling, Loved track data will also be synced.

Rating Album is the same menu, only it applies to the album rather than the track. All tracks from the album will be updated with the album rating (this does not affect individual track ratings). If you prefer, you can configure automatic album ratings based on the average of track ratings, in Tags (1).

Add to Playlist[]

Add to Playlist

Add to Playlist

  • List of available static playlists
    • You can hold down Ctrl to add to more than one playlist at once.
  • <New Playlist>
    • Creates a new static playlist from the selected tracks, in the Playlists node. Will prompt you to name the playlist.
  • External Playlist...

Send To[]

Send To Menu

Send To

Replace Menu

Folder (Replace)

  • Auto DJ
    • Starts Auto DJ based on the selected track.
  • Music Library / Audiobooks / Inbox
    • Moves tracks to the selected node. (Moving to Music Library or Audiobooks will trigger Auto-Organize, if you have it enabled.)
  • Folder (Move) / Folder (Copy)
    • Move/Copy Files to Folder - will move all selected files to the chosen folder, retaining the file names but not any directory structure.
    • Move/Copy Files to Organized Folder - will open the File Organizer and load the selected files.
    • You cannot move files which are auto-organized, but you can still copy them.
  • Folder (Replace) This feature is used to replace one track in your library with another whilst keeping the metadata intact. For example it can be used to replace a file with a higher bitrate version without having to re-tag it. The replace operation can only be applied to a single song at a time. The file you replace will be deleted and the new file will be given the same file path, location in playlists, and tags as the deleted file. (Tags not shown in the Tag Editor may not be retained - make sure you configure any fields you want to keep as custom tags.)
    • Replace the Selected File...
    • Use the Selected File to Replace Another File...
  • Clipboard
    • Copies tags to the clipboard as configured in Tags (2). This is NOT the same function as Edit > Copy Tags in the main menu. That command copies and pastes tags between files in MusicBee; this one creates text output that can be used with external programs.
  • <External Audio Editor>
  • Format Converter
  • File Rescan
    • Scans selected files for changes.
  • Volume Analysis
  • External Tool

Auto-Tag by Track[]

Auto-Tag Menu

Auto-Tag by Track

Main article: Auto-Tagging
  • Identify Track and Update Tags
  • Update Missing Artwork
  • Update Missing Lyrics
  • Update Tags Using Last.fm Tag Cloud
  • Infer and Update Tags From Filename

Search[]

Search Menu

Search...

  • Find Artist
  • Find Similar
    • Opens a search for artists rated similar by last.fm in the Search Results node.
  • Find Album
    • Opens a search for the selected album in the Search Results node (including all albums with the same name).
  • Find <Field>
    • Many other fields are also available in this list, but only if you opened the menu on top of them.
  • Locate in Playlist
    • Lists all playlists that contain the selected track. When you select one, it will take you to that playlist.
  • Locate in Library
    • Will attempt to locate the selected track in the Music Library (for instance, if you are accessing it from a playlist)
  • Locate in Windows Explorer
    • Opens the file location in Windows Explorer
  • Locate in Computer Node
    • Opens the file location in MusicBee's Computer node


Layout
Panel Options The Anatomy of MusicBee · Library Navigation · Track Information · Visualizations
Main Panel Views Tracks · Album and Tracks · Album Covers · Artists · Custom Views
Other Tabs Bar · Main Menu · Status Bar · Layout Preferences
Menus
Main Menu File · Edit · View · Controls · Tools · Help
Other Menus Top Left · Library · Player · Playlist · Columns · Tag Editor
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