MacOS Tags

On MacOS systems, there are a number of additional tags with names beginning with "MDItem" and "XAttr" that may be extracted. These tags are not extracted by default -- they must be specifically requested or enabled via an API option.

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.

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 MDItemTags API option to 1 or the RequestAll API option to 2 or higher.

Tag Name WritableValues / Notes
AppleMailDateReceived no  
AppleMailFlagged no  
AppleMailMessageID no  
AppleMailPriority no  
AppleMailRead no  
AppleMailRepliedTo no  
MDItemAccountHandles no  
MDItemAccountIdentifier no  
MDItemAcquisitionMake no  
MDItemAcquisitionModel no  
MDItemAltitude no  
MDItemAperture no  
MDItemAuthorEmailAddresses no  
MDItemAuthors no  
MDItemBitsPerSample no  
MDItemBundleIdentifier no  
MDItemCity no  
MDItemColorSpace no  
MDItemComment no  
MDItemContentCreationDate 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  
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! (label number: 0-7)
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  
MDItemInterestingDate_Ranking no  
MDItemIsApplicationManaged no  
MDItemIsExistingThread no  
MDItemIsLikelyJunk no  
MDItemKeywords no  
MDItemKind no  
MDItemLastUsedDate no  
MDItemLatitude no  
MDItemLogicalSize no  
MDItemLongitude no  
MDItemMailDateReceived_Ranking no  
MDItemMailboxes 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  
MDItemSubject no  
MDItemTimestamp no  
MDItemTitle no  
MDItemUseCount no  
MDItemUsedDates 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  
MDItemWhereFroms no  
MDItemWhiteBalance no  

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 XAttrTags API option to 1 or the RequestAll API option to 2 or higher.

Tag Name WritableValues / Notes
XAttrFinderInfo 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  

(This document generated automatically by Image::ExifTool::BuildTagLookup)
Last revised Apr 17, 2018

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