WALISTV

How to Create Your Own M3U Playlist (Step by Step)

Last updated: · By the WalisTV Support Team

An M3U playlist is just a text file, so you can make your own in a few minutes, with nothing more than Notepad. It is a great way to watch your own videos (family videos, recordings, courses you own) on your TV, or to group the free streams that a broadcaster publishes on its official website. This guide shows you how to write the file, organize it into categories with logos, put it online, and open it in WalisTV.

M3U playlist with categories and logos in WalisTV

What you need

  • A text editor: Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac (in plain text mode), or any code editor.
  • The direct links to your videos or streams. A direct link opens the video file itself, for example a link that ends in .mp4 or .m3u8, not a web page with a video on it.
  • A place to put the playlist file online, so your TV can download it (see step 4).

Step 1: Start your M3U playlist file

Open Notepad and type this on the first line:

#EXTM3U

This line tells the player that the file is an extended M3U playlist. The format is described on Wikipedia. It must be the very first line.

Step 2: Add your first item

Each item takes two lines: a description line that starts with #EXTINF, then the link.

#EXTINF:-1,Our trip to Chefchaouen
https://media.example.com/videos/chefchaouen-trip.mp4
  • -1 means “unknown length”. Keep it like this, it works for videos and live streams.
  • The text after the comma is the name shown in the app.

Step 3: Add logos and categories

Two optional attributes make your playlist look much better:

  • tvg-logo="...": the link to an image (PNG or JPG) shown next to the item.
  • group-title="...": the category. WalisTV groups items with the same group-title together.
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-logo="https://media.example.com/logos/family.png" group-title="Family",Wedding 2024


#EXTINF:-1 tvg-logo="https://media.example.com/logos/family.png" group-title="Family",Birthday party


#EXTINF:-1 group-title="Courses",Lesson 1 - Introduction
https://media.example.com/courses/lesson-01.mp4

Tip: show items under Movies or Series in WalisTV

WalisTV looks at the link to decide where an item goes. Links with a /movie/ or /movies/ folder in the path appear under Movies, links with a /series/ folder appear under Series, and everything else appears under Live TV. If you host your own files, simply put them in folders with those names:

https://media.example.com/movies/wedding-2024.mp4   → Movies
https://media.example.com/series/lesson-01.mp4      → Series
https://media.example.com/live/camera.m3u8          → Live TV

Step 4: Save the file in UTF-8

  1. In Notepad, choose File > Save As.
  2. File name: my-playlist.m3u.
  3. Save as type: All files (so Notepad does not add .txt).
  4. Encoding: UTF-8. This keeps Arabic letters and French accents readable.

Step 5: Put the M3U playlist online

WalisTV opens playlists from a link, so the file needs an address that starts with http:// or https://. Common options:

  • Your own website or hosting: upload the file with your hosting file manager. The link will look like https://your-site.com/my-playlist.m3u.
  • A NAS or home media server: many NAS devices can share files over HTTP. A link on your home network (for example http://192.168.1.20/my-playlist.m3u) only works when the TV is connected to the same network.
  • Cloud storage with direct links: some services give a direct download link. A “share page” link does not work: the link must download the file itself.

Privacy: anyone who has the link can open the file. Do not put private links or passwords in a playlist that is public.

Step 6: Add your M3U playlist to WalisTV

  1. Open WalisTV on your TV or PC and note the Device ID (or scan the QR code).
  2. Open the WalisTV Dashboard and select Check Device.
  3. Under Add a playlist, enter a name and paste the playlist link.
  4. Select Add Playlist. The playlist appears on your TV.

Full details: how to connect your TV with a QR code.

Update your M3U playlist later

To add or remove items, edit the file and upload it again to the same address. You do not need to change anything in the Dashboard: WalisTV downloads the latest version when it loads the playlist.

Common M3U playlist mistakes

  • The first line is not #EXTM3U. Some players reject the file.
  • The link is a web page, not a file. Open the link in a browser: it should download or show the text of the playlist.
  • A space or a missing comma in #EXTINF. The name must come after the comma.
  • The file was saved as .m3u.txt. Choose “All files” when saving.
  • Unsupported video files. MP4 (H.264 video, AAC audio) and HLS (.m3u8) work on almost every device.

Not sure about the difference between .m3u and .m3u8? Read M3U vs M3U8.

Only use content you are allowed to use

Use your own videos, content you have the rights to, or streams that their owner makes publicly available for this purpose. Do not add links to copyrighted content without permission.

Important: WalisTV is a media player only. It does not provide channels, playlists, subscriptions, movies, series, or streaming content. Use only playlists from sources you are legally authorized to use.