AudioShell 2.3.6

AudioShell is a free add-on that lets you read and edit music tags straight from File Explorer, with no separate tagging program to open.

Right-click a song, choose Properties, and an AudioShell tab shows the title, artist, album, cover art and the rest, ready to edit.

Version 2.3.6 from June 2016 is the last release, so it still works but no longer gets updates - the maintained alternatives are further down.

What AudioShell Actually Does

It plugs into Windows Explorer rather than running as an app of its own. Once installed, music files gain extra tabs in their Properties window and extra columns you can add to Explorer's Details view.

You can change tags on one file or on several at once, add or replace cover art, and see audio details such as length, bit rate and the encoder used. Version 2.0 also added a small standalone editor for working through many files in one window.

The appeal is speed. Fixing a wrong artist name or a missing track number takes a right-click instead of loading a full library manager.

The Formats It Understands

AudioShell reads and writes tags in far more formats than Windows does on its own, including several lossless ones that Explorer simply ignores.

If you keep a collection in FLAC, WavPack or Monkey's Audio, that breadth is the main reason AudioShell is still worth a look.

Is It Still Safe to Use?

The installer is digitally signed by its developer, Softpointer, and contains no adware or bundled offers. It installs both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Explorer add-on, so it works with 64-bit Windows.

The catch is age. Softpointer lists Windows Vista to Windows 10 as supported, and nothing has been fixed since 2016, so it has never been tested on Windows 11.

If Explorer becomes slow or crashes on folders of music after installing it, uninstall AudioShell from Settings, Apps, then restart Windows. That removes the add-on completely.

Maintained Tag Editors to Use Instead

For most people, a regularly updated tag editor is the safer long-term choice. These are all free.

• Mp3tag - the most popular choice on Windows, with batch editing and cover art lookups.
• MusicBrainz Picard - recognises songs and fills in tags from an online database automatically.
• Kid3 - open source, handles many formats and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
• TagScanner - strong at renaming files from their tags and the other way round.

If you want the same Explorer-tab idea but only for MP3, M4A, WMA and OGG, mp3infp works the same way. It is frozen too, since 2018.

If You Would Rather Tag Inside a Player

Music players with a library can edit tags as part of everyday listening. foobar2000 and MusicBee both edit tags for whole albums at once and handle the common formats in the table above.

When you are ripping CDs, Exact Audio Copy fills in the tags during the rip, so there is less to fix afterwards.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

• You are on Windows 11 and want something tested on it. Pick Mp3tag or Kid3, both updated for current Windows.
• You want to see video details in Explorer. AudioShell is audio-only, so use Icaros for video thumbnails and file details.
• You need the full technical details of a file. MediaInfo shows codec, bit depth and sample rate in depth.
• You want to change the format, not the tags. Our free Audio Converter works in the browser with nothing to install.

For more music library and tagging tools, browse the Media Management category.

Quick questions

Download AudioShell 2.3.6 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.