Rename a Flickr tag across your whole library.
Photo Stream Assistant renames a tag across an entire Flickr library, merges one tag into another by renaming it, and removes a tag from every photo that carries it. Flickr's own website has no way to do this: it offers no tag rename at all. The app adds the new tag before removing the old one, photo by photo, so nothing is left untagged if a run is interrupted, and it never rewrites the whole tag list, which would destroy the machine tags Flickr stores there.
Flickr has no rename. Once a typo or an inconsistent tag is on two hundred photos it stays there, because fixing it by hand means opening two hundred photos. Photo Stream Assistant does it in one pass.
Why tag vocabularies rot
Tags accumulate over years: singulars and plurals, two spellings of the same place, a typo that spread before anyone noticed. Flickr offers no way to rename or merge them, so the mess is permanent unless something edits every photo for you.
- Rename a tag everywhere it appears, in one operation.
- Merge two tags by renaming one to the other's name.
- Remove a tag from every photo that carries it, without touching anything else on those photos.
- See related tags, so a near-duplicate is noticed before it spreads.
How a rename works
Step 1
Pick the tag in My Tags and choose Rename or Remove; the number of affected photos is shown first.
Step 2
The app adds the new tag and removes the old one on each photo in turn, which is what Flickr's API allows.
Step 3
Every photo is accounted for at the end, including any the search listed but that no longer carried the tag.
Flickr Tag Manager screenshots
These screens show how the workflow looks inside Photo Stream Assistant on macOS.
Frequently asked questions
Can Flickr rename a tag itself?
No. Flickr's website and API offer no rename, which is why this works by adding the new tag and removing the old one on each photo.
Will this damage machine tags?
No. Only the tag you named is removed, by its own identifier. Geo, camera and imported machine tags are left untouched, because the app never rewrites a photo's whole tag list.
Can it be undone?
Not from the app, which is why the number of affected photos is shown before anything happens. Renaming back is possible, since the operation is symmetric.
Is this part of Pro Unlock?
The free app applies tag changes to 10 photos at a time so you can see how it behaves. Pro Unlock removes the limit.
Related workflows
Flickr Metadata Editor
Messy Flickr metadata dragging down your library? Fix titles, descriptions, tags, and dates faster on Mac with a dedicated Flickr metadata editor for Pro users.
Flickr Bulk Edit
Editing Flickr photos one by one? Bulk edit titles, tags, privacy, dates, and geo data across your entire library on Mac with Photo Stream Assistant for Flickr Pro.
Flickr Photo Organizer
Large Flickr library getting hard to manage? Organise photos, albums, collections, tags, and favourites from one Mac app built for serious Flickr Pro workflows.
At a glance
- Platform
- macOS 12.0 or later, Apple silicon
- Price
- Free to download. Pro Unlock is a one-time purchase of 12.99 EUR, not a subscription.
- Requires
- A Flickr account. Some features need Flickr Pro, which is Flickr’s own subscription.
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese
- Version
- 1.2.0, on the Mac App Store