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Working with files

Edit many files at once

Select several files and set a tag or a field on all of them in one go.

Archivist Admin Checked in Starchive on October 13, 2026

You have a set of files that share a fact (here, three phone scans whose paper prints sit in the same drawer) and want to record it on all of them without opening each one.

Steps

  1. Click the first file, then hold ⌘ (Command) and click each of the others. The bar at the bottom counts them: 3 files selected.
  2. The panel on the right becomes the batch pane: the number of files and their total size, Share, a ⋮ menu, then Tag and one row per custom field.
Three scans selected with Command-click; the right panel has become the batch pane, with Tag and one row per custom field, and the selection bar reads 3 files selected.
  1. Click the row to fill in, here Physical Location, and type the value into Write something….
  2. Click Save. A message confirms it: Field “Physical Location” has been written to 3 files.
The same three scans in the batch pane with Physical Location open: the text Prints: reading room, flat file drawer 3 typed into its box, with Cancel and Save.
  1. Click one of the files on its own and check its details: the field now holds the value you typed.
Scan 0413.jpg on its own afterwards: its details list Physical Location as Prints: reading room, flat file drawer 3, the value written to all three scans.

Good to know

  • The other rows open the same pickers as the file’s Tag drawer: a tag, a yes or no, a date, a term from a list. See Tags and fields.
  • The batch pane does not show what the files hold already. Check one file before and after.
  • With several files selected, the file menu (right-click) offers Expand, Pin, Add to Collection…, Tag, Share, Download as…, Move to… and Move to Trash. Copy name, Rename and Open folder work on one file at a time.
  • Expand in that menu opens the selected files in the viewer, one after another (Viewing 1 of 2 files for two).
  • The × in the bottom bar clears the selection.
When to use a batch edit, a flow or a single edit
You want to…Use
Record one fact on files you can select togetherA batch edit (this page)
Record it on every file that will be uploaded into a folderA flow
Correct one fileThe pencil on its row in the file’s details; see Tags and fields

Questions

Can I undo a batch edit?

The message after a field is written offers no Undo. To put a value back, select the same files and write the old value the same way.

Why are the rows in the batch pane empty?

The batch pane writes values; it does not show the ones the files already have, which may differ from file to file. Click a single file to see its own.

How do I add a value to every file as it is uploaded, instead of afterwards?

Give the folder a flow. See [Flows](/guide/add/flows).