.M3U File Extension
Media Playlist
Developer | Nullsoft |
Popularity |
3.7 | 117 Votes |
Category | Audio Files |
Format | Text |
What is an M3U file?
An M3U file is a media playlist file supported by various media players such as Winamp and iTunes. It contains a playlist of audio or video files, such as .MP3 tracks or .MP4 videos, and lists the locations of the media files in a plain text format.
M3U playlists are typically used for audio playlists, but some may also include references to video files. M3U files contain references to media files, but not the actual files themselves.
NOTE: "M3U" is short for "MP3 URL" or "Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3 Uniform Resource Locator."
How to open an M3U file
You can open an M3U file and play the playlist it contains in many media players, including Microsoft Groove Music (bundled with Windows), Microsoft Windows Media Player (bundled with Windows) and VideoLAN VLC media player (cross-platform).
You can also open an M3U file with any text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad (Windows) or Apple TextEdit (Mac), to view the text it contains.