diff --git a/picard/formats/apev2.py b/picard/formats/apev2.py
index 5102227ff..2d1f13fdf 100644
--- a/picard/formats/apev2.py
+++ b/picard/formats/apev2.py
@@ -191,12 +191,15 @@ class APEv2File(File):
             tags = mutagen.apev2.APEv2()
         images_to_save = list(metadata.images.to_be_saved_to_tags())
         if config.setting["clear_existing_tags"]:
+            preserved = []
+            if config.setting['preserve_images']:
+                preserved = list(self._iter_cover_art_tags(tags))
             tags.clear()
+            for name, value in preserved:
+                tags[name] = value
         elif images_to_save:
-            for name, value in tags.items():
-                if (value.kind == mutagen.apev2.BINARY
-                    and name.lower().startswith('cover art')):
-                    del tags[name]
+            for name, value in self._iter_cover_art_tags(tags):
+                del tags[name]
         temp = {}
         for name, value in metadata.items():
             if name.startswith("~") or not self.supports_tag(name):
@@ -273,6 +276,12 @@ class APEv2File(File):
         else:
             return name.title()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _iter_cover_art_tags(tags):
+        for name, value in tags.items():
+            if value.kind == mutagen.apev2.BINARY and name.lower().startswith('cover art'):
+                yield (name, value)
+
     @classmethod
     def supports_tag(cls, name):
         return (bool(name) and name not in UNSUPPORTED_TAGS
diff --git a/picard/formats/asf.py b/picard/formats/asf.py
index 8e551a7a4..6371aaa06 100644
--- a/picard/formats/asf.py
+++ b/picard/formats/asf.py
@@ -267,7 +267,10 @@ class ASFFile(File):
         tags = file.tags
 
         if config.setting['clear_existing_tags']:
+            cover = tags['WM/Picture'] if config.setting['preserve_images'] else None
             tags.clear()
+            if cover:
+                tags['WM/Picture'] = cover
         cover = []
         for image in metadata.images.to_be_saved_to_tags():
             tag_data = pack_image(image.mimetype, image.data,
diff --git a/picard/formats/id3.py b/picard/formats/id3.py
index e84bcf425..d8f22d6e7 100644
--- a/picard/formats/id3.py
+++ b/picard/formats/id3.py
@@ -374,7 +374,10 @@ class ID3File(File):
         tags = self._get_tags(filename)
         config = get_config()
         if config.setting['clear_existing_tags']:
+            cover = tags.getall('APIC') if config.setting["preserve_images"] else None
             tags.clear()
+            if cover:
+                tags.setall('APIC', cover)
         images_to_save = list(metadata.images.to_be_saved_to_tags())
         if images_to_save:
             tags.delall('APIC')
diff --git a/picard/formats/mp4.py b/picard/formats/mp4.py
index 939e6d1aa..382f1dcfe 100644
--- a/picard/formats/mp4.py
+++ b/picard/formats/mp4.py
@@ -253,7 +253,10 @@ class MP4File(File):
         tags = file.tags
 
         if config.setting["clear_existing_tags"]:
+            cover = tags['covr'] if config.setting['preserve_images'] else None
             tags.clear()
+            if cover:
+                tags['covr'] = cover
 
         for name, values in metadata.rawitems():
             if name.startswith('lyrics:'):
diff --git a/picard/formats/vorbis.py b/picard/formats/vorbis.py
index c6f7d9f21..f6495ff24 100644
--- a/picard/formats/vorbis.py
+++ b/picard/formats/vorbis.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 # Copyright (C) 2006-2008, 2012 Lukáš Lalinský
 # Copyright (C) 2008 Hendrik van Antwerpen
-# Copyright (C) 2008-2010, 2014-2015, 2018-2020 Philipp Wolfer
+# Copyright (C) 2008-2010, 2014-2015, 2018-2021 Philipp Wolfer
 # Copyright (C) 2012-2013 Michael Wiencek
 # Copyright (C) 2012-2014 Wieland Hoffmann
 # Copyright (C) 2013 Calvin Walton
@@ -231,12 +231,22 @@ class VCommentFile(File):
         if file.tags is None:
             file.add_tags()
         if config.setting["clear_existing_tags"]:
-            channel_mask = file.tags.get('waveformatextensible_channel_mask', None)
+            preserve_tags = ['waveformatextensible_channel_mask']
+            if not is_flac and config.setting["preserve_images"]:
+                preserve_tags.append('METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE')
+                preserve_tags.append('COVERART')
+            preserved_values = {}
+            for name in preserve_tags:
+                if name in file.tags:
+                    preserved_values[name] = file.tags[name]
             file.tags.clear()
-            if channel_mask:
-                file.tags['waveformatextensible_channel_mask'] = channel_mask
+            for name, value in preserved_values.items():
+                if value:
+                    file.tags[name] = value
         images_to_save = list(metadata.images.to_be_saved_to_tags())
-        if is_flac and (config.setting["clear_existing_tags"] or images_to_save):
+        if is_flac and (
+                (config.setting["clear_existing_tags"] and not config.setting["preserve_images"])
+                or images_to_save):
             file.clear_pictures()
         tags = {}
         for name, value in metadata.items():
diff --git a/picard/ui/options/tags.py b/picard/ui/options/tags.py
index e37cde065..a48b44f6b 100644
--- a/picard/ui/options/tags.py
+++ b/picard/ui/options/tags.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ class TagsOptionsPage(OptionsPage):
         BoolOption("setting", "dont_write_tags", False),
         BoolOption("setting", "preserve_timestamps", False),
         BoolOption("setting", "clear_existing_tags", False),
+        BoolOption("setting", "preserve_images", False),
         BoolOption("setting", "remove_id3_from_flac", False),
         BoolOption("setting", "remove_ape_from_mp3", False),
         ListOption("setting", "preserved_tags", []),
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ class TagsOptionsPage(OptionsPage):
         self.ui.write_tags.setChecked(not config.setting["dont_write_tags"])
         self.ui.preserve_timestamps.setChecked(config.setting["preserve_timestamps"])
         self.ui.clear_existing_tags.setChecked(config.setting["clear_existing_tags"])
+        self.ui.preserve_images.setChecked(config.setting["preserve_images"])
         self.ui.remove_ape_from_mp3.setChecked(config.setting["remove_ape_from_mp3"])
         self.ui.remove_id3_from_flac.setChecked(config.setting["remove_id3_from_flac"])
         self.ui.preserved_tags.update(config.setting["preserved_tags"])
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ class TagsOptionsPage(OptionsPage):
         if clear_existing_tags != config.setting["clear_existing_tags"]:
             config.setting["clear_existing_tags"] = clear_existing_tags
             self.tagger.window.metadata_box.update()
+        config.setting["preserve_images"] = self.ui.preserve_images.isChecked()
         config.setting["remove_ape_from_mp3"] = self.ui.remove_ape_from_mp3.isChecked()
         config.setting["remove_id3_from_flac"] = self.ui.remove_id3_from_flac.isChecked()
         config.setting["preserved_tags"] = list(self.ui.preserved_tags.tags)
diff --git a/picard/ui/ui_options_tags.py b/picard/ui/ui_options_tags.py
index f11d227c1..cf4ae2299 100644
--- a/picard/ui/ui_options_tags.py
+++ b/picard/ui/ui_options_tags.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from PyQt5 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
 class Ui_TagsOptionsPage(object):
     def setupUi(self, TagsOptionsPage):
         TagsOptionsPage.setObjectName("TagsOptionsPage")
-        TagsOptionsPage.resize(539, 525)
+        TagsOptionsPage.resize(567, 525)
         self.vboxlayout = QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout(TagsOptionsPage)
         self.vboxlayout.setObjectName("vboxlayout")
         self.write_tags = QtWidgets.QCheckBox(TagsOptionsPage)
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ class Ui_TagsOptionsPage(object):
         self.clear_existing_tags = QtWidgets.QCheckBox(self.before_tagging)
         self.clear_existing_tags.setObjectName("clear_existing_tags")
         self.vboxlayout1.addWidget(self.clear_existing_tags)
+        self.preserve_images = QtWidgets.QCheckBox(self.before_tagging)
+        self.preserve_images.setEnabled(False)
+        self.preserve_images.setObjectName("preserve_images")
+        self.vboxlayout1.addWidget(self.preserve_images)
         self.remove_id3_from_flac = QtWidgets.QCheckBox(self.before_tagging)
         self.remove_id3_from_flac.setObjectName("remove_id3_from_flac")
         self.vboxlayout1.addWidget(self.remove_id3_from_flac)
@@ -50,12 +54,13 @@ class Ui_TagsOptionsPage(object):
         self.vboxlayout.addWidget(self.before_tagging)
 
         self.retranslateUi(TagsOptionsPage)
+        self.clear_existing_tags.toggled['bool'].connect(self.preserve_images.setEnabled)
         QtCore.QMetaObject.connectSlotsByName(TagsOptionsPage)
         TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.write_tags, self.preserve_timestamps)
         TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.preserve_timestamps, self.clear_existing_tags)
-        TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.clear_existing_tags, self.remove_id3_from_flac)
+        TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.clear_existing_tags, self.preserve_images)
+        TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.preserve_images, self.remove_id3_from_flac)
         TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.remove_id3_from_flac, self.remove_ape_from_mp3)
-        TagsOptionsPage.setTabOrder(self.remove_ape_from_mp3, self.preserved_tags)
 
     def retranslateUi(self, TagsOptionsPage):
         _translate = QtCore.QCoreApplication.translate
@@ -63,6 +68,7 @@ class Ui_TagsOptionsPage(object):
         self.preserve_timestamps.setText(_("Preserve timestamps of tagged files"))
         self.before_tagging.setTitle(_("Before Tagging"))
         self.clear_existing_tags.setText(_("Clear existing tags"))
+        self.preserve_images.setText(_("Keep embedded images when clearing tags"))
         self.remove_id3_from_flac.setText(_("Remove ID3 tags from FLAC files"))
         self.remove_ape_from_mp3.setText(_("Remove APEv2 tags from MP3 files"))
         self.preserved_tags_label.setText(_("Preserve these tags from being cleared or overwritten with MusicBrainz data:"))
diff --git a/test/formats/common.py b/test/formats/common.py
index da6f5835b..9f5830e91 100644
--- a/test/formats/common.py
+++ b/test/formats/common.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ from picard.metadata import Metadata
 
 settings = {
     'clear_existing_tags': False,
+    'preserve_images': False,
     'embed_only_one_front_image': False,
     'enabled_plugins': '',
     'id3v23_join_with': '/',
diff --git a/test/formats/coverart.py b/test/formats/coverart.py
index a3376f989..54e7b4903 100644
--- a/test/formats/coverart.py
+++ b/test/formats/coverart.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # Picard, the next-generation MusicBrainz tagger
 #
-# Copyright (C) 2019-2020 Philipp Wolfer
+# Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Philipp Wolfer
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 # modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ class CommonCoverArtTests:
 
         def setUp(self):
             super().setUp()
+            self.set_config_values({
+                'clear_existing_tags': False,
+                'preserve_images': False,
+            })
             self.jpegdata = load_coverart_file('mb.jpg')
             self.pngdata = load_coverart_file('mb.png')
 
@@ -118,6 +122,20 @@ class CommonCoverArtTests:
             loaded_metadata = save_and_load_metadata(self.filename, metadata)
             self.assertEqual(0, len(loaded_metadata.images))
 
+        @skipUnlessTestfile
+        def test_cover_art_clear_tags(self):
+            image = CoverArtImage(data=self.pngdata, types=['front'])
+            file_save_image(self.filename, image)
+            metadata = load_metadata(self.filename)
+            self.assertEqual(image, metadata.images[0])
+            config.setting['clear_existing_tags'] = True
+            config.setting['preserve_images'] = True
+            metadata = save_and_load_metadata(self.filename, Metadata())
+            self.assertEqual(image, metadata.images[0])
+            config.setting['preserve_images'] = False
+            metadata = save_and_load_metadata(self.filename, Metadata())
+            self.assertEqual(0, len(metadata.images))
+
         def _cover_metadata(self):
             imgdata = self.jpegdata
             metadata = Metadata()
diff --git a/ui/options_tags.ui b/ui/options_tags.ui
index 8136d1670..5fd6079c6 100644
--- a/ui/options_tags.ui
+++ b/ui/options_tags.ui
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
    <rect>
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
-    <width>539</width>
+    <width>567</width>
     <height>525</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
@@ -47,6 +47,16 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
+      <item>
+       <widget class="QCheckBox" name="preserve_images">
+        <property name="enabled">
+         <bool>false</bool>
+        </property>
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Keep embedded images when clearing tags</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
       <item>
        <widget class="QCheckBox" name="remove_id3_from_flac">
         <property name="text">
@@ -111,10 +121,27 @@
   <tabstop>write_tags</tabstop>
   <tabstop>preserve_timestamps</tabstop>
   <tabstop>clear_existing_tags</tabstop>
+  <tabstop>preserve_images</tabstop>
   <tabstop>remove_id3_from_flac</tabstop>
   <tabstop>remove_ape_from_mp3</tabstop>
-  <tabstop>preserved_tags</tabstop>
  </tabstops>
  <resources/>
- <connections/>
+ <connections>
+  <connection>
+   <sender>clear_existing_tags</sender>
+   <signal>toggled(bool)</signal>
+   <receiver>preserve_images</receiver>
+   <slot>setEnabled(bool)</slot>
+   <hints>
+    <hint type="sourcelabel">
+     <x>283</x>
+     <y>107</y>
+    </hint>
+    <hint type="destinationlabel">
+     <x>283</x>
+     <y>132</y>
+    </hint>
+   </hints>
+  </connection>
+ </connections>
 </ui>