alphabetical list of extensions

File extension .M3U

File description

An M3U file is a plain text multimedia playlist. A playlist specifies song name and information, and the location of the multimedia file. M3U files are commonly used by multimedia players. M3U files are encoded in plain text Windows-1252 format using the Latin-1 character set. They may be edited by a common text editor.

HTTP Live Streaming services use the M3U playlist format to specify song order on Apple devices running iOS. The M3U file specifies the media file directory location and filename on a variety of formats, including OS X, iOS, Linux, Unix, and Windows.

Description of the problem

If you have on your computer a .M3U file that you cannot open, you are in exactly the same situation as thousands of other people who have similar problems with this or any other unknown file.

There may be several reasons why you cannot open the file with .M3U extension. Directly on this website you can find a solution of the most common problem with the .M3U file – that you do not have on your computer the appropriate program to open the file.

Solution

From the list below, select the appropriate program, install it and double click on the icon of a file that did not want to open - the problem with the .M3U file extension should be solved. However, if this does not happen, go back to the website to learn about other possible causes of the error, which have been described at the bottom of the website.

Category

Audio Files

Developer

Nullsoft

Popularity

File name: Media Playlist File

Programs that will open this file:

Windows

ALLPlayer

Cue Splitter

Foobar2000

Helium Music Manager

iTunes

KMPlayer

Media Player Classic

MediaMonkey

RealPlayer

Songbird

VLC media player

VUPlayer

Winamp

Windows Media Player

Zune

Mac OS

iTunes

RealPlayer

Songbird

VLC media player

Linux

VLC media player

XMMS

Android

VLC media player for Android

Remember!

The .M3U file extension can correspond to several not related file formats. If there is more than one file format with the .M3U extension, you will probably find most of them at this website. Remember that you need to download a program to support a particular file type. So first look through the entire contents of the website to select a program to support just the file you have.

Other possible reasons why your .M3U file does not want to open

In addition to the problem described above, i.e. the lack of the appropriate application to support the .M3U file, there may be several reasons that cause problems with opening and operation of the data format:

1. Incorrect version of the installed application

A quite common problem is the lack of application in the appropriate version. Even if you have an application, with the help of which you should open the .M3U file, you may have a problem with it because of its version. Perhaps in previous versions the application has not yet supported the .M3U file, so download the update and check again.

2. Incorrect .M3U file association with the program

If you have already installed the appropriate application, and it is the correct version, the file may not open correctly, because the operating system does not have information that this program supports the file. So you need to "show" which program the computer should use. To do this:

Right-click the .M3U file
Go to the "Open with" - then "Choose default program ..."
Locate the appropriate application
Click "OK"

3. The file is corrupt

It also happens that the file you want to open is corrupt and therefore there is no such possibility. In this situation, you should find its different version, or ask a person from whom you got, to send it again.