# Saving files suddenly very very slow
**URL:** https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038
**Category:** MusicBrainz Picard
**Created:** [May 21, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038 "2020-05-21T04:19:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/1 "2020-05-21T04:19:45Z")
To be clear, I’m talking only about the speed of saving files AFTER all the online stuff is done.
I’m running MB on an M.2 SSD where the input and output directories are on the same drive, so moving them should be blazing fast, but it’s happening more like one file per second, IF that. My SSD clocks at 1500MB/S.
Task manager shows the drive busy at 0% (idle) and CPU at 10-11%, essentially idle.
I’ve rebooted the system a couple of times for luck, no change.
What could be going on here? It wasn’t like this yesterday or the day before.
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### Author:  [@Zas](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Zas)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 7:25am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/2 "2020-05-21T07:25:44Z")
Hard to tell. Can you provide a debug log as explained on [https://picard.musicbrainz.org/docs/troubleshooting/](https://picard.musicbrainz.org/docs/troubleshooting/) ?
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### Author:  [@hiccup](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/hiccup)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/3 "2020-05-21T08:37:34Z")
Could it perhaps be related to this? :
> [@Picard 2.3.1 is now available](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/picard-2-3-1-is-now-available/465420/12):
>
> I am still experiencing this. (Picard 2.3.2 and Classical Extras 2.0.10) Here are two videos. The first is a short example. At the 14 second marker I click on the left panel so to take away focus from the right panel, and you see immediately that the saving of the files speeds up considerably. Warning: the second video is like looking wallpaper dry. Only at the 10:44 marker I am finally able to steal the focus away from the right panel, and only then the saving speeds up.
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/4 "2020-05-21T16:06:28Z")
I have it running with debug turned on, and experiencing the problem. Now the UI is grey, and I am saving files at a rate of about 1 per hour (guessing). If I ever regain control, I will pull the log and paste it here.
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### Author:  [@Zas](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Zas)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/5 "2020-05-21T16:26:12Z")
> [@dbvanhorn](#):
>
> saving files at a rate of about 1 per hour
Something is definitively wrong. Hard to tell what with infos you provided til now.
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/6 "2020-05-21T17:36:07Z")
Sorry, but that’s all the info I have. It’s been an hour since I posted last and it’s still “saving” the same file.
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### Author:  [@Zas](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Zas)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/7 "2020-05-21T17:39:21Z")
> [@dbvanhorn](#):
>
> It’s been an hour since I posted last and it’s still “saving” the same file.
What is the format of this file?
and its size?
Was it tagged before?
How long does it take if you copy the original file to the same target directory?
I don’t see how Picard (in fact mutagen) can be that slow on SSD.
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/8 "2020-05-21T17:43:05Z")
I can’t tell what file it’s working on everything is greyed out. The largest file in the dir is less than 17M
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/9 "2020-05-21T20:26:39Z")
I gave up waiting.
I did discover that if I save the files in chunks while it’s working rather than waiting for it to be done, the saves are fast and I don’t get stuck.
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### Author:  [@Deleted\_Editor\_1801019](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Deleted_Editor_1801019)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/10 "2020-05-21T20:43:25Z")
There’s a dictum in IT support which unfortunately applies here: No log, no issue…
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/11 "2020-05-21T20:59:34Z")
I suppose… How nice that the program hangs, preventing me from getting the log.
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### Author:  [@rdswift](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/rdswift)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/12 "2020-05-21T22:26:42Z")
> [@dbvanhorn](#):
>
> How nice that the program hangs, preventing me from getting the log.
You might try starting Picard from the command line with the `-d` option, and redirect the `stdin` and `stderr` output to a file. That may give you something to work with, even if you end up having to interrupt the program. If you’re using Windows, there is some more information available in the [documentation](https://rdswift.github.io/picard-docs/en/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.html#getting-logs) that I’ve been assembling.
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/13 "2020-05-21T22:31:38Z")
I do see what Hiccup was talking about. If I select a batch of files to save, and save them, the progress is slow (but not glacial) until I click over on the left side, taking off the blue highlight on the right side, then it zips right along.
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### Author:  [@Deleted\_Editor\_2136044](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Deleted_Editor_2136044)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/14 "2020-05-24T05:04:44Z")
The slowdown is caused by an exponential number of checkings of the selected items during operations. The workaround works, but I’m working on a permanent fix for that. 🙂
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### Author:  [@dbvanhorn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/dbvanhorn)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/15 "2020-05-24T05:39:10Z")
During saving? I don’t save till all the tagging etc is done.
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### Author:  [@Deleted\_Editor\_2136044](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Deleted_Editor_2136044)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/16 "2020-05-24T05:48:25Z")
Yup, it can happen in all sorts of operations (moving, clustering, lookup, saving).
You would be surprised by how much the UI can slow down the processing, but we’re working on that.
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### Author:  [@ferdberple](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/ferdberple)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/17 "2020-11-26T21:19:01Z")
I have come up with a workaround that is quite fast, even when saving 10,000 albums.
do all your work, just prior to saving the results. Then highlight the top item in the right panel. Press the save icon with your mouse, then press key down. Again press the save item, then press key down. repeat until you come to the end of the list. Of course for 10k items this is tedious. Instead, download one of the many free key/mouse programs and automate the mouse click and key down. I use min mouse macros, but any one should owrk.
Here is my macro. It waits 1/2 second between repeats so the picard write queue doesn’t build up.
27 | 390 | 67 | 10 | Mouse Movement
28 | 390 | 67 | 10 | Left Click Down
29 | 390 | 67 | 10 | Left Click Release
30 | 394 | 67 | 10 | Mouse Movement
31 | 394 | 67 | 10 | Keypress down
32 | 390 | 70 | 500 | Mouse Movement
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### Author:  [@outsidecontext](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/outsidecontext)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/saving-files-suddenly-very-very-slow/478038/18 "2020-12-01T15:43:03Z")
@ferdberple: We have identified a regression in Picard 2.5.2 which can cause a massive slowdown if you select and save a lot of files. This is probably what you experience. This will be fixed again in the next release. As a workaround you can also downgrade to Picard 2.5.1.
The issue is tracked at the following ticket, the fix is currently in review:
>