Free online M3U to PLS converter

Some media players, car stereos, and streaming applications accept PLS playlists but reject M3U files. Converting the playlist changes its index format; the referenced audio or video files are not re-encoded, copied, or downloaded.

What the M3U format is

M3U is a plain-text playlist format with one local path or URL per line. Lines beginning with # are comments or directives, so a basic M3U file can be read by simple text editors and many media players.

Extended M3U files usually begin with #EXTM3U. An #EXTINF line before a media path can provide the track duration and display title, for example #EXTINF:245,Track title. M3U files are used by music players, IPTV applications, media servers, car systems, and playlist editors.

The .m3u8 extension commonly identifies an M3U playlist encoded as UTF-8. The structure is similar to M3U, but software may distinguish the extension or apply different encoding rules.

What the PLS format is

PLS is an INI-style plain-text playlist. Its standard structure uses a [playlist] section, numbered fields such as File1, Title1, and Length1, a NumberOfEntries count, and Version=2.

A PLS entry can store its path or URL, readable title, and duration explicitly. This is useful when the destination program or device specifically supports PLS, although PLS is not inherently higher quality or more compatible than M3U.

How to convert an M3U playlist to PLS

Use 101convert.com

1. Open the M3U-to-PLS conversion tool on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .m3u or .m3u8 playlist.
3. Select PLS as the output format and start the conversion.
4. Download the generated .pls file and test it in the target player.

The conversion requires the playlist file, not the audio or video files listed inside it. The resulting PLS contains the original local paths or streaming URLs. Because an online upload exposes the playlist contents to the conversion service, use local software instead if the paths or URLs are confidential.

Convert with foobar2000

For a local conversion, open the M3U playlist in foobar2000, select the required entries, then choose File → Save playlist and select PLS as the playlist type. Save the output in the same directory as the source when it contains relative paths. foobar2000 can also open and resave playlists in batches, but it may normalize or rewrite path syntax.

Compatibility and limitations

• Media files are not converted. The operation changes only playlist syntax; codecs, bitrates, metadata embedded in media files, and stream content remain unchanged.
• Relative paths are resolved by a player relative to the PLS file's location. Keep the output beside the original playlist, or replace relative paths with correct absolute paths if the file will be moved.
• Conversion cannot verify that a local file still exists or that a network stream is reachable. Test the generated playlist on the device that will use it.
• Titles and durations are transferred only when the source contains usable #EXTINF data. Entries without a known duration normally use Length=-1; live streams and unknown-length files commonly require this value.
• M3U directives such as IPTV attributes, VLC options, and application-specific tags do not have direct PLS equivalents and may be discarded. The media URL or path is retained, but special playback behavior may not be.
• Duplicate paths remain separate numbered PLS entries if they occur separately in the M3U.
• PLS encoding support varies, especially on older hardware. UTF-8 output works with many current players, while devices expecting legacy ANSI or local encodings may display non-ASCII filenames incorrectly.
• Some devices accept only local file paths, only URLs, or a particular path style. A syntactically valid PLS can still fail if the destination does not support the referenced media type or location.