I found that I can specify a custom ordering of pages in a file, including repeating some pages.  That looks like a very useful feature for performance; looking forward to trying it out!

However, I presume that once a custom page ordering is specified it will be used whenever that file is used.  I am wondering if I can make a copy of a file in the library so the original page order can be used if desired.

The page order in the original file stays unchanged, The page order is only saved in the database. And you can create copies (or "snippets" or "songs") as you like, rename them or use different page orders and annotations. As said those are saved in the database and not in the source file (at least if you don't choose to save them to the file which you can do as well if you wish).

Thank you for your reply BRX; I understand the concept of protecting the integrity of the original file by recording changes in a separate database.

However (Noobi alert) how do I go about creating a second copy of a song in the library?  In Windows explorer I would copy (Ctrl-C) and paste (Ctrl-V) and there would a new file with a different name.

Long press the song on the library screen to select it and tap "Copy" in the action bar at the top of the screen. 

Mike

To copy a song in the library just long press the Song and the Presse copy at the top of the Page.
Or uf you dont see copy press the three dots and press copy there.

(01-03-2026, 06:09 AM)McAroni Wrote: To copy a song in the library just long press the Song and the Presse copy at the top of the Page.
Or uf you dont see copy press the three dots and press copy there.

Thank you for your reply McAroni; very simple!

(01-03-2026, 06:07 AM)Zubersoft Wrote: Long press the song on the library screen to select it and tap "Copy" in the action bar at the top of the screen. 

Mike

Thanks Mike, 
I just got around to trying this and it works like a charm!  (I assume any and all changes that had been made are applied to the copy)

I did notice that the copy has the same name as the original.  I can understand that if it is an exact copy it hardly matters, but as soon as any change is made to one it can be confusing which is which.  I also see that I have the ability to change the name, but it just seems like it would be helpful if MS offered a new name (just appending "Copy" would be sufficient to remind me pay attention to this detail).

I am sure you gave this some thought so am curious why decided to not offer a different name.

It's essential to understand that a song is NOT the same as a file. 
In the concept and wording of MobileSheets a "song" is the starting point. A song is often based on a single file, but it can be a part of a bigger file or it can combine several files. On the "Files" tab of the song editor you can see the file(s) and the pages that are used for the song. That's just one part of the song. Additionally there are other data that belong to the song that are stored in the MobileSheets database. Besides file and page order all the info on the "Fields" tab of the song editor (often called "meta data") are stored per song in the database. And, pretty important, also annotations that you add in the annotation editor are (usually) stored per song in the database. 
Understanding that and knowing what is where helps a lot to understand how things work.
If you copy a song you choose "Use Original File" or "Copy Contents into New File". With "Use Original File" you can create several songs that use the same file but have an independent set of song data. With "Copy Contents into New File" the file is copied, there's an option to rename the copy (default is OriginalName(1).OriginalExtension) combined with a copied set of meta data. 
Think about it and play around with it, it pays to have a thorough understanding of what happens.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply itsme; great information!

I had noticed that the words 'song' and 'file' are not used synonymously in the manual, so guessed there is an important distinction to be made.  Song meta data such as file, pages, key, composer, annotations, etc. are stored in the database; got it.

I get that a song can be a subset of a file, but how can it be a combination of files?

When I long-press a song name, I only see Copy Piece, not "Use Original File" or "Copy Contents into New File" (I am using an Android device).

A song is a container for files. So you can have one or more files in a song (to add multiple files, you must long press the song, tap "Edit Song" and add files on the Files tab, or create the song through the song editor to start with). 

"Use original file" and "Copy Contents into New File" only apply when using text or ChordPro files.

Mike

(01-05-2026, 11:45 AM)Zubersoft Wrote: A song is a container for files. So you can have one or more files in a song (to add multiple files, you must long press the song, tap "Edit Song" and add files on the Files tab, or create the song through the song editor to start with). 

"Use original file" and "Copy Contents into New File" only apply when using text or ChordPro files.

Mike

Got it; thanks Mike!

Sorry for my mistake, I use "copy song" only for ChordPro and ABC files in case I need the same song in different keys. I select "Use Original File" and transpose the copy to another key.
"Use original file" and "Copy Contents into New File" only apply when using text, ChordPro or ABC files - that perfectly makes sense

No Problem itsme; it's good to know there is much about MobileScores features I have yet to learn about!

At this point my intent is to use MS for "standard" music, but I also play in an ukulele group that uses PDF files that contain only lyrics and chords.  I don't know anything about ChordPro or ABC files; are they like popular music song sheets?

See
https://www.chordpro.org/chordpro/index.html
https://groups.io/g/ChordPro
https://groups.io/g/abcusers

With Johan Vromans' integration of ABC into the ChordPro file format ChordPro has become by far the best file format to combine lyrics & chords sheets as commonly used by guitarists with snippets of standard notation. And, even better, besides the ChordPro reference implementation https://github.com/ChordPro/chordpro , MobileSheets is the most complete implementation of the current ChordPro standard. 
It's really worth getting into it.

Thanks for that info and links.  I like to use a word processor to create my arrangements of popular tunes, but ChordPro looks like it would be helpful for certain tasks.  I will pass this information on to others I know that do similar tasks.