Remove FLAC Metadata Online — Strip Vorbis Comments & Album Art
FLAC files store tags in a block called the Vorbis Comment — a simple key=value format that holds title, artist, album, genre, date, encoder information, and any other custom fields. This tool removes the Vorbis Comment block and optionally the embedded album art (PICTURE blocks) from a FLAC file without touching the audio stream at all.
How FLAC metadata differs from MP3 (ID3)
MP3 files store tags as ID3v2 headers prepended to the file and an optional 128-byte ID3v1 tag appended at the end. Stripping MP3 metadata means slicing off those byte ranges.
FLAC uses an entirely different structure: the file begins with the four-byte signature fLaC followed by a chain of typed metadata blocks. Each block has a 4-byte header (1 byte type + isLast flag, 3 bytes length) followed by its data. The audio frames only begin after the last metadata block is finished. This tool walks that chain, filters out the VORBIS_COMMENT block (type 4) and PICTURE blocks (type 6), and reconstructs the chain with the surviving blocks — no re-encoding, no quality loss.
What metadata can a FLAC file contain?
- VORBIS_COMMENT — the main tag block: title, artist, album, date, genre, encoder name (
ENCODER,ENCODED_BY), ReplayGain values, and any custom field. - PICTURE — embedded album art (usually JPEG or PNG). A single FLAC can contain multiple PICTURE blocks (front cover, back cover, artist photo, etc.).
- SEEKTABLE — seek point positions for fast seeking; not metadata in the editorial sense.
- APPLICATION — application-specific data; uncommon in consumer files.
- CUESHEET — CD cue sheet data for lossless rips.
Why is the encoder name sensitive?
The ENCODER and ENCODED_BY Vorbis Comment fields record the name and version of the software that encoded the FLAC — for example flac 1.4.3, dBpoweramp, or a specific DAW version. This can be used to fingerprint your production workflow or correlate files across different distributions, similar to the©too atom in MP4 files.
Album art and file size
Embedded album art can be surprisingly large — a high-resolution front cover image might be 3–5 MB in a 30 MB FLAC file. Removing PICTURE blocks is optional in this tool; enable the checkbox if you want the smallest possible output. The audio quality is unaffected either way.
Related tools
- Use Audio Metadata Remover to strip ID3 tags from MP3 files.
- Use Audio Metadata Viewer to inspect Vorbis Comment fields before removing them.