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I need to read metadata from one of my movies in mp4 format and to do that I need a very basic mp4 (for movies) metadata editor. Which programs can you recommend ? (Since I don't know any).

I don't need media organizers, nor anything fancy, just something that allows me to peek inside the file.

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  • 3
    VLC can also edit metadata from Movies. Did u try it?
    – blade19899
    Feb 26, 2014 at 13:40

7 Answers 7

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You can use Wwidd for video file and

EasyTag (for mp4 + audio files). To install EasyTag type:

sudo apt-get install easytag
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  • Thanks, but wwidd does not work at all and I dont need to check audio files :S Feb 26, 2014 at 13:28
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    EasyTAG will work for mp4 file format, but will not work for other video format.
    – g_p
    Feb 26, 2014 at 13:33
  • easytag may open mp4 movie files, but it simply does not work properly for them ... unless my mp4 movies files all have 0 metadata I dont see this being a solution. Thanks anyway ... Feb 26, 2014 at 13:58
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You can use VLC. Simply open the file and hit CTRL + L to show the playlist or from the View menu choose Playlist.

When you see the list right-click on the list item you need to edit and click on Information

Click the List item

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  • vlc does not show the date taken for mp4 files in the metadata view you described. Jul 22, 2018 at 23:48
  • also VLC has Tools>Media Information to show and edit some metadata info Mar 12, 2020 at 19:47
  • Personally, I don't understand how VLC metadata works. Tags that are written with it, often don't save, and tags written with other editors don't appear in VLC. I've written tags with mutagen, Subler, atomicparsley, and ffmpeg, and the tags written are mutually viewable among all of them. However, opening the Media Information in VLC, half of the tags are missing. On the flip side, this also happens with tags written using VLC, and them seeming to disappear in other editors.
    – LOlliffe
    Jul 4, 2023 at 16:54
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None of the other solutions proposed here worked with my QuickTime MOV file (a movie recorded on an iPhone and edited with the iOS iMovie app). VLC almost worked but the 'Save metadata' button doesn't save anything. exiftool, however, did work!

apt install exiftool
exiftool -overwrite_original -year=2020 -comment="City trip to Paris" -title="Paris" '/tmp/paris.mov' 

Tested in Ubuntu 20.04.

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  • That's somewhat of a different question. That is, yes, exiftool will work on MOV files, however, the OP was specifically asking about mp4 editing. It's also very different because when the question was initially asked in 2014, MP4 editing was not yet possible with exiftool, happening later with version 11.39. Meaning, what worked for a MOV file back then, wouldn't have answered the OP's MP4 question.
    – LOlliffe
    Jul 4, 2023 at 16:42
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If you're just trying to see the metadata, exiftool gives pretty extensive metadata on most media files, including .mp4/.m4v files. Simply install using sudo apt install exiftool, then run exiftool '-g' <file> This will give the metadata in a -g "grouped" listing.

If you need to edit specifically .mp4/.m4v files, try atomicparsley (https://atomicparsley.sourceforge.net). It can look a bit daunting at first, but a few minutes with the help section, and you'll get the basics.

UPDATE: I would add that while it wasn't possible at the time of my original response, .mp4 editing has since been added to exiftool. @Occasional provides a nice example of the syntax in their response.

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  • I recommend to edit this answer to expand it with specific details about how to install and use this. (See also How do I write a good answer? for general advice about what sorts of answers are considered most valuable on AskUbuntu.) Apr 13, 2017 at 10:11
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Here's an example using the command line ffmpeg tool. This reads the metadata, displays it and edits the title.

ffmpeg -i infile.mp4 -f ffmetadata infile.txt
cat infile.txt
ffmpeg -i infile.mp4 -metadata title="New Title" -codec copy outfile.mp4
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I usually use ExFalso sister to Quod Libet music player ExFalso tag editor

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AtomicParsley command line tool can set all the .mp4 metadata tags (supports 3 tag schemes: iTunes-style, 3GPP & ISO), including artwork and long description and even custom tags (I don't know what's this, never used it).
To install:

sudo apt install atomicparsley

To use:

AtomicParsley --help

gtkpod is a GUI application that uses an atomicparsley library to set some metadata tags. To work on the .mp4 files you need to turn on the MP4 Plugin in the Preferences.


EasyTag is another good GUI application that can set the .mp4 metadata tags. It's more easy to use than gtkpod, but latter can set more tags.


Kid3 is also a very good GUI application that, like EasyTag, can edit batch of files.

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