# Converting all songs from a query and exporting them to a folder

**URL:** <https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [September 9, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153 "2022-09-09T21:30:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![phirestalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d6d6ee/32.png) [@phirestalker](https://discourse.beets.io/u/phirestalker)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153/1 "2022-09-09T21:30:42Z")

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I did very little research and I found the convert plugin, but it seems to be geared towards importing files into the library. I would like to use the library as the source and export the converted files to a USB stick. Is there any way to do this, or can I use the convert plugin for this and configure it not to mess with the library at all?

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**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153/2 "2022-09-10T01:51:34Z")

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Yes; just set the `auto` config option to false. (That’s actually the default, so you don’t have to do anything.) Then you can run conversions on-demand by typing `beet convert`.

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**Author:** ![jojo](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/jojo/32/709_2.png) [@jojo](https://discourse.beets.io/u/jojo)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 5:14am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153/3 "2022-09-10T05:14:38Z")

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Hi @phirestalker, I often use convert for exporting files to a folder outside the library. This is the config that works for me. It might help get you started. With path I override my usual way of naming files because I want them to be named differently in exports. I want to export all files in their original format and not do any conversions, hence the no\_convert an never\_convert\_lossy\_files options.

```auto
plugins:
    - convert

convert:
    dest: /Users/jojo/Music/Techno/0-export
    never_convert_lossy_files: yes
    no_convert: format:AAC, format:WMA, format:ALAC, format:FLAC
    threads: 1
    paths:
        default: "$artist - $album - $title [$catalognum] ($year)"
        singleton: "$artist - $album - $title [$catalognum] ($year)"
        comp: "$artist - $album - $title [$catalognum] ($year)"

```

Hope that helps 🙂

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**Author:** ![phirestalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d6d6ee/32.png) [@phirestalker](https://discourse.beets.io/u/phirestalker)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/converting-all-songs-from-a-query-and-exporting-them-to-a-folder/2153/4 "2022-09-10T12:52:27Z")

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Thanks all, it worked great.