Convert M3U to TXT Online Free
Drag & drop your .m3u file here, or click to browse
Converts to TXT on secure servers · 1 free a day, files up to 25 MB · no signup
Your first conversion each day is free (files up to 25 MB). A $2.99 one-time Day Pass unlocks 24 hours and ends by itself.
How to convert M3U to TXT: Drop your M3U playlist file into the converter above and get a plain-text list of media paths back instantly. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection and converted on our server. ChangeThisFile supports 1,000+ conversion routes, and your first conversion each day is free.
By ChangeThisFile Team · Last updated: October 2026
ChangeThisFile turns an M3U playlist into a plain-text list with one media path or stream URL per line. #EXTM3U, #EXTINF titles, durations and other # directives are dropped, so the file works directly with wget -i or curl. It runs on our server. Your first conversion each day is free for files up to 25MB; a $2.99 Day Pass covers more conversions and files up to 100MB.
M3U vs TXT: Format Comparison
Key differences between the two formats
| Feature | M3U | TXT |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Media playlist format | Generic plain text |
| Structure | Directives, metadata, and media paths | One item per line, no special syntax |
| Header | Starts with #EXTM3U | No required header |
| Metadata lines | #EXTINF tags with duration and title | Not present |
| Software support | Media players (VLC, Winamp, IPTV apps) | Any text editor or script |
| Scripting | Requires M3U-aware parsing | Read line-by-line with any tool |
| Human readability | Mixed directives and URLs | Clean list of paths or URLs |
| File size | Larger due to metadata lines | Smaller, content only |
When to Convert
Common scenarios where this conversion is useful
Extract a list of media URLs for scripting
When you need to feed a playlist's URLs into a download script, curl command, or pipeline tool, a plain TXT file with one URL per line is far easier to process than an M3U with intermixed directives.
Audit IPTV or streaming playlists
Convert an IPTV M3U playlist to TXT to quickly review all stream URLs in a text editor, check for dead links, or count how many channels are present without a media player.
Import into tools that don't support M3U
Some download managers, batch processors, and automation tools accept a list of URLs in a plain text file but cannot parse M3U format. Convert first, then import.
Archive and document a playlist
Preserve a record of what was in a playlist as a simple text file for documentation or version control. Plain text is universally readable and diffs cleanly in git.
Who Uses This Conversion
Tailored guidance for different workflows
Office Workers
- Convert M3U documents to TXT for sharing with colleagues who use different software
- Transform M3U reports to TXT for archiving or distribution to external stakeholders
Students
- Convert M3U lecture notes to TXT for submitting assignments in the required format
- Transform M3U study materials to TXT for reading on tablets or e-readers
Professionals
- Convert M3U contracts or proposals to TXT for secure, read-only distribution to clients
- Transform M3U templates to TXT for use across different office suites and platforms
How to Convert M3U to TXT
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1
Select your M3U file
Drag and drop your .m3u playlist file onto the converter area, or click to browse your device. Both standard M3U and extended M3U (M3U8) files are supported.
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2
Automatic conversion
Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection and converted on our server.
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3
Download your TXT file
Click the download button to save the converted .txt file. Each line in the output contains one media path or URL from the original playlist.
Convert M3U to TXT via API
Integrate this conversion into your pipeline with 3 lines of code. Free tier: 25 conversions/month.
curl -X POST https://changethisfile.com/v1/convert \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ -F "file=@input.m3u" \ -F "target=txt" \ -o output.txt --fail
YOUR_API_KEY with your free key — no credit card needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
A playlist with an #EXTINF line for "Artist One - First Song" followed by music/first-song.mp3, then a stream URL, becomes two lines: music/first-song.mp3 and https://example.com/stream/second.mp3. Nothing else is kept.
It strips all M3U-specific syntax — the #EXTM3U header, #EXTINF metadata lines, and any other directive lines starting with # — and outputs only the actual media file paths or stream URLs, one per line, as plain text.
No. By default the converter strips all directive and metadata lines, leaving only the bare file paths and URLs. This gives the cleanest output for scripting and automation. If you need the titles, you can view the original M3U in any text editor.
Extended M3U playlists that use #EXTM3U and #EXTINF are handled, including IPTV lines with tvg attributes. For .m3u8 files, use the M3U8 to JSON converter, or rename the file to .m3u, since the line syntax is the same.
This conversion runs on our server, so your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection. Files up to 15MB are deleted as soon as the converted file is sent back; larger files run as a background job and are deleted automatically about a day later. We don't share your files.
Yes. Large IPTV playlists with thousands of entries are handled without issues. The conversion runs on our server, and even a playlist with thousands of channels is usually well under a megabyte, far below the 25MB free file limit.
Blank lines between entries are removed during conversion, so the output is a compact list with no gaps between entries.
M3U8 is the UTF-8 encoded variant of M3U, commonly used for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) playlists. The file structure is identical — both use the same #EXTM3U and #EXTINF syntax. This converter handles both.
Yes. The plain text output is designed to work directly with tools like wget, curl, or youtube-dl that accept a list of URLs from a file. For example: wget -i playlist.txt downloads every URL in the list.
Local file paths (e.g., C:\Music\track.mp3 or /home/user/music/track.mp3) are extracted exactly as they appear in the M3U file. The converter does not validate whether the paths are reachable.
Free conversions accept files up to 25MB. A one-time $2.99 Day Pass raises the limit to 100MB and unlocks unlimited conversions for 24 hours.
Not automatically, because the TXT output has already had all metadata stripped. If you need a round-trip, use the original M3U file as your source. You can always convert TXT to another format using ChangeThisFile's other routes.
Yes. ChangeThisFile runs in any modern mobile browser, including Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android. No app installation is required.
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