M3U Playlist Cleaner & Exporter
Drop your IPTV or music playlist file and get a tidy, editable channel list. Remove duplicate streams, rename channels, filter by group, and download a clean file - all in your browser. Nothing uploaded.
Drop your M3U file here
or
M3U / M3U8 - processed locally
| Channel name | Group | Stream URL |
|---|
Learn more: cleaning up M3U playlists
How duplicate detection works
The cleaner flags an entry as a duplicate when its stream URL matches one that appeared earlier in the file. It keeps the first entry for each URL and removes every later one.
Matching uses the URL only, after trimming spaces, so two entries with different names, such as "BBC One HD" and "bbc1 uk", still count as duplicates if the URL is the same. The match is exact and case-sensitive, so a URL that differs by one query parameter is a different entry. An entry with no URL is never flagged.
What it will not catch
Wikipedia's M3U article says there is no formal specification for the format and that it is a de facto standard. It was developed around 1996 by Fraunhofer for its WinPlay3 software.
Because of that, one channel can appear under two different URLs, such as a mirror or another CDN address. Those are not duplicate URLs, so the tool leaves both in. After cleaning a messy list, scan for repeated channel names to catch these by hand.
What stays in the file
The playlist is rewritten when you export. Per Wikipedia, an extended M3U starts with #EXTM3U and uses #EXTINF lines. Streams often use a duration of -1, and IPTV playlists add key-value pairs before the comma, such as tvg-id, group-title, tvg-name and tvg-logo.
The cleaner keeps those four attributes, any other attributes on the line (for example tvg-chno), the duration, and directive lines between the #EXTINF line and the URL, such as #EXTVLCOPT. Commas inside quoted values and in channel names are handled. You can strip tvg-logo or tvg-id on export. The file must start with #EXTM3U, and only entries with an #EXTINF line are read.
FAQ
Which entry does the cleaner keep?
The first one in the file. Every later entry with the same URL is removed.
Will it catch duplicates with different names?
Yes, if the URLs match exactly. It ignores the name, so the same URL under two labels is a duplicate. The reverse does not hold: the same name with two different URLs is kept.
Is M3U an official standard?
No. Wikipedia describes it as a de facto standard with no formal specification, which is why players and providers add their own attributes and directives.