Free online M3U8 to PLS converter

A target player, car stereo, network receiver, or older application may accept PLS playlists but reject UTF-8 M3U8 files. Converting the playlist changes its index format; it does not convert, copy, or recompress the referenced audio.

What the M3U8 format is

M3U8 is a UTF-8 encoded variant of the M3U plain-text playlist format. It can contain local filenames, relative paths, internet URLs, and optional metadata. Audio players, radio applications, media servers, download tools, and streaming software use it to describe playback order.

Extended M3U8 files commonly use #EXTINF to specify a track duration and title; the following line contains the file path or stream URL. The .m3u8 extension is also used for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) playlists. An HLS playlist may describe a master playlist, media segments, alternate streams, encryption, and bandwidth variants rather than a simple list of complete audio files.

What the PLS format is

PLS is an INI-style audio playlist format originally associated with Winamp and supported by many desktop players, older car stereos, network receivers, and other media applications. A version 2 PLS file normally contains a [playlist] section, numbered fields such as File1, Title1, and Length1, plus NumberOfEntries and Version=2.

PLS is useful when software requires indexed entries or handles PLS more reliably than M3U8. It can store references to local files and URLs, along with titles and durations, but it does not contain the audio data. Its simple structure also makes it easy to inspect or edit with a text editor.

How to convert M3U8 to PLS

Using foobar2000

1. Open foobar2000 and choose File → Add files to load the .m3u8 playlist. Keep the playlist in its original folder when it contains relative paths.
2. Check that the expected tracks or stream URLs appear. Remove missing entries if the destination player must not receive broken references.
3. Select the loaded playlist or its entries and choose File → Save playlist....
4. Choose PLS as the playlist format, set a filename ending in .pls, and save it. If PLS is not available in the format list, update foobar2000 or use the manual method below.
5. Open the resulting file in the target application and test local files and network streams separately.

Using the built-in online converter

101convert.com can convert the file for free without installing software. Upload the M3U8 file, select PLS as the output format, start the conversion, and download the generated playlist. Do not upload playlists containing private stream URLs, credentials, or sensitive local paths.

Editing a simple playlist manually

For a short playlist, create a text file with one numbered group for each entry:

[playlist]
File1=music/track-one.mp3
Title1=Track One
Length1=215
File2=music/track-two.mp3
Title2=Track Two
Length2=-1
NumberOfEntries=2
Version=2

Save the file as playlist.pls. Use Length=-1 for an unknown duration. Numbering must be consecutive, and NumberOfEntries must match the number of entries. Manual editing is impractical for large playlists and cannot reproduce HLS master-playlist logic.

Compatibility and quality limitations

The conversion does not decode or transcode audio, so it causes no audio-quality loss. It also does not download referenced files, make unavailable media accessible offline, or reduce the size of the audio files.

Relative paths depend on the location of the playlist and on how the player resolves them. Keeping the PLS beside the referenced audio folder usually preserves relative references. Absolute paths are more predictable on one computer but normally break when the playlist is moved to another device. A stream URL remains usable only while the server, address, and access permissions remain valid.

A simple M3U8 entry that points to a complete audio file or stream can usually be represented in PLS. An HLS master or media playlist cannot be represented faithfully because PLS has no fields for segments, variants, encryption, codecs, or bandwidth. A converter may retain a playable top-level URL as one PLS entry, but it will not merge HLS segments, remove encryption, or guarantee playback on a PLS-only device.

#EXTINF titles and durations transfer only when the conversion software parses them. PLS parsers vary in their handling of UTF-8 and non-ASCII characters; use compatible text encoding or simple filenames when an older device displays garbled titles or fails to load entries.