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 IDTag Name WritableValues / 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 WritableValues / Notes
XAttrAppleMailDateReceived no  
XAttrAppleMailDateSent no  
XAttrAppleMailIsRemoteAttachment no  
XAttrFinderInfo no  
XAttrLastUsedDate no  
XAttrMDItemDownloadedDate no  
XAttrMDItemFinderComment no  
XAttrMDItemWhereFroms yes! (information about where the file came from. May only be deleted when writing)
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 WritableValues / 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 Feb 16, 2024

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