MacOS Tags

On MacOS systems, the there are additional MDItem and XAttr Finder tags that may be extracted. These tags are not extracted by default -- they must be specifically requested or enabled via an API option. (Except when reading MacOS "._" files directly, see below.)

The tables below list some of the tags that may be extracted, but ExifTool will extract all available information even for tags not listed.

Tags in these tables are referred to as "pseudo" tags because their information is not stored in the file itself. As such, Writable tags in these tables may be changed without having to rewrite the file.

Note that on some filesystems, MacOS creates sidecar files with names that begin with "._". ExifTool will read these files if specified, and extract the information listed in the following table without the need for extra options, but these files are not writable directly.

Tag ID Tag Name Writable Values / Notes

0x0002 RSRC - --> RSRC Tags

0x0009 ATTR - --> MacOS XAttr Tags

MacOS XAttr Tags

XAttr tags are extracted using the "xattr" utility. They are extracted if any "XAttr*" tag or the MacOS group is specifically requested, or by setting the API XAttrTags option to 1 or the API RequestAll option to 2 or higher. And they are extracted by default from MacOS "._" files when reading these files directly.

Tag Name Writable Values / Notes

XAttrAppleMailDateReceived no

XAttrAppleMailDateSent no

XAttrAppleMailIsRemoteAttachment no

XAttrFinderInfo no

XAttrLastUsedDate no

XAttrMDItemDownloadedDate no

XAttrMDItemFinderComment no

XAttrMDItemWhereFroms no

XAttrMDLabel no

XAttrQuarantine yes! (quarantine information for files downloaded from the internet. May only be deleted when writing)

XAttrResourceFork no

MacOS MDItem Tags

MDItem tags are extracted using the "mdls" utility. They are extracted if any "MDItem*" tag or the MacOS group is specifically requested, or by setting the API MDItemTags option to 1 or the API RequestAll option to 2 or higher. Note that these tags do not necessarily reflect the current metadata of a file -- it may take some time for the MacOS mdworker daemon to index the file after a metadata change.

Tag Name Writable Values / Notes

AppleMailDateReceived no

AppleMailDateSent no

AppleMailFlagged no

AppleMailIsRemoteAttachment no

AppleMailMessageID no

AppleMailPriority no

AppleMailRead no

AppleMailRepliedTo no

MDItemAccountHandles no

MDItemAccountIdentifier no

MDItemAcquisitionMake no

MDItemAcquisitionModel no

MDItemAltitude no

MDItemAperture no

MDItemAudioBitRate no

MDItemAudioChannelCount no

MDItemAuthorEmailAddresses no

MDItemAuthors no

MDItemBitsPerSample no

MDItemBundleIdentifier no

MDItemCity no

MDItemCodecs no

MDItemColorSpace no

MDItemComment no

MDItemContentCreationDate no

MDItemContentCreationDateRanking no

MDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking no

MDItemContentModificationDate no

MDItemContentType no

MDItemContentTypeTree no

MDItemContributors no

MDItemCopyright no

MDItemCountry no

MDItemCreator no

MDItemDateAdded no

MDItemDateAdded_Ranking no

MDItemDescription no

MDItemDisplayName no

MDItemDownloadedDate no

MDItemDurationSeconds no

MDItemEXIFGPSVersion no

MDItemEXIFVersion no

MDItemEmailConversationID no

MDItemEncodingApplications no

MDItemExposureMode no

MDItemExposureProgram no

MDItemExposureTimeSeconds no

MDItemFNumber no

MDItemFSContentChangeDate no

MDItemFSCreationDate yes! (file creation date. Requires "setfile" for writing. Note that when reading, it may take a few seconds after writing a file before this value reflects the change. However, FileCreateDate is updated immediately)

MDItemFSCreatorCode no

MDItemFSFinderFlags no

MDItemFSHasCustomIcon no

MDItemFSInvisible no

MDItemFSIsExtensionHidden no

MDItemFSIsStationery no

MDItemFSLabel yes!
0 = 0 (none)
1 = 1 (Gray)
2 = 2 (Green)
3 = 3 (Purple) 4 = 4 (Blue)
5 = 5 (Yellow)
6 = 6 (Red)
7 = 7 (Orange)

MDItemFSName no

MDItemFSNodeCount no

MDItemFSOwnerGroupID no

MDItemFSOwnerUserID no

MDItemFSSize no

MDItemFSTypeCode no

MDItemFinderComment yes!

MDItemFlashOnOff no

MDItemFocalLength no

MDItemGPSDateStamp no

MDItemGPSStatus no

MDItemGPSTrack no

MDItemHasAlphaChannel no

MDItemISOSpeed no

MDItemIdentifier no

MDItemImageDirection no

MDItemInterestingDateRanking no

MDItemInterestingDate_Ranking no

MDItemIsApplicationManaged no

MDItemIsExistingThread no

MDItemIsLikelyJunk no

MDItemKeywords no

MDItemKind no

MDItemLastUsedDate no

MDItemLastUsedDate_Ranking no

MDItemLatitude no

MDItemLensModel no

MDItemLogicalSize no

MDItemLongitude no

MDItemMailDateReceived_Ranking no

MDItemMailboxes no

MDItemMediaTypes no

MDItemNumberOfPages no

MDItemOrientation no

MDItemOriginApplicationIdentifier no

MDItemOriginMessageID no

MDItemOriginSenderDisplayName no

MDItemOriginSenderHandle no

MDItemOriginSubject no

MDItemPageHeight no

MDItemPageWidth no

MDItemPhysicalSize no

MDItemPixelCount no

MDItemPixelHeight no

MDItemPixelWidth no

MDItemPrimaryRecipientEmailAddresses no

MDItemProfileName no

MDItemRecipients no

MDItemRedEyeOnOff no

MDItemResolutionHeightDPI no

MDItemResolutionWidthDPI no

MDItemSecurityMethod no

MDItemSpeed no

MDItemStateOrProvince no

MDItemStreamable no

MDItemSubject no

MDItemTimestamp no

MDItemTitle no

MDItemTotalBitRate no

MDItemUseCount no

MDItemUsedDates no

MDItemUserDownloadedDate no

MDItemUserDownloadedUserHandle no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedDate no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedRecipient no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedRecipientHandle no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedSender no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedSenderHandle no

MDItemUserSharedReceivedTransport no

MDItemUserTags yes!+ (requires "tag" utility for writing -- install with "brew install tag". Note that user tags may not contain a comma, and that duplicate user tags will not be written)

MDItemVersion no

MDItemVideoBitRate no

MDItemWhereFroms no

MDItemWhiteBalance no

(This document generated automatically by Image::ExifTool::BuildTagLookup)
Last revised Oct 16, 2021

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