Edit an M3U playlist without changing the original
A useful channel list should be easy to navigate. A large collection often contains repeated addresses, categories you never open, or several versions of a channel with confusingly similar names. This editor lets you work on the playlist you already have: select a group, search channel names, optionally remove exact URL duplicates, and download a new M3U file. Your original file remains unchanged, so you can compare the result before replacing a working setup.
The tool does not test stream availability. It never contacts the addresses inside your playlist and does not play video. A channel that survives the editing process may still require an active account or may be temporarily unavailable. Treat the result as an edited list, not as a certificate that every channel works. Once you have downloaded it, open the copy in your own player and check the channels you actually intend to use.
Start with a local file or complete playlist text
Choose your local M3U or M3U8 file, or paste its complete contents into the input box. A URL alone is not enough because this tool does not fetch remote playlists. If you only have a subscription link, obtain the file through your existing player or the download method provided with your account. Do not assume that a web page containing a login form is a playlist just because it came from a similar address.
Run the first analysis before choosing a category. The group selector is populated from the group-title values actually present in your list. You can then select one group or enter a fragment of a channel name. Name matching ignores case but uses a contiguous piece of text. Searching for “Sport” can find “Demo Sport HD”; it does not automatically identify every programme that happens to show sporting events under another channel name.
After changing the input or filters, run the analysis again. The old download is invalidated so that it cannot silently represent a previous selection. Review the input count, selected count, removed duplicates and name preview. The preview contains up to fifty names, while the download contains all selected entries. If the selection is empty, downloading is disabled. Save the new file with a distinct name and keep the original until your player setup is verified.
Exact addresses are the duplicate rule
Two entries are duplicates here only when their full stream address is identical. The first selected occurrence is kept. Later occurrences of that address are removed when duplicate removal is enabled, even if their display names or logos differ. This matters when you combine lists from different sources: the metadata of the first retained block wins. Check that its group, name and programme-guide identifier are the ones you want to preserve.
Similar names are intentionally not enough to remove a channel. Standard definition and high definition versions may have separate addresses. A regional version, another language, or an alternative audio track can also explain a repeated-looking name. Automatically collapsing these variants would be a more destructive operation than removing exact repeated addresses. Use the group and name filters to narrow the list deliberately instead of expecting the editor to infer which version you prefer.
Differences in query parameters remain meaningful. Addresses with different account tokens are not merged, even if their paths look almost identical. The editor does not strip authentication parameters, rewrite hosts, or guess that two servers carry the same feed. This conservative behaviour helps preserve links whose exact spelling matters to a provider. It also means you should not interpret a small duplicate count as evidence that every channel in the list is unique in content.
What the exported file preserves
For each retained entry, the editor keeps its EXTINF line, accompanying directives and stream address together. Common attributes such as group-title, tvg-id and tvg-logo are preserved when they are already present. The playlist header and initial metadata are retained too. The tool does not create missing logos, invent programme-guide identifiers, or repair a broken remote EPG service. Those are separate tasks that require knowledge of your actual channel source.
A typical channel block contains a description followed by an address. If a new description begins before the previous entry has an address, the editor stops with a useful error instead of silently attaching the wrong address to the wrong channel. A dangling directive at the end also requires attention rather than being silently discarded. Use the existing M3U validator to inspect the structure, and compare the suspicious part with the original source before changing it.
The export is a text file with an M3U extension and normal line breaks. Unicode channel names can be retained when the input has been read correctly. If the initial file uses another character encoding and names already appear corrupted in the input box, fix the encoding first. Downloading the same corrupted text cannot reliably reconstruct the intended spelling. This is especially relevant for accented characters and channel names written in non-Latin scripts.
Why an HLS manifest is rejected
The M3U8 extension can describe different kinds of documents. A channel playlist lists separate streams. An HLS manifest may instead describe video segments or quality variants for one stream. Deleting repeated-looking lines in that second type could damage playback. The editor therefore detects HLS-specific EXT-X directives and refuses to process that document as a channel list. This does not mean the HLS file itself is invalid.
If you want to play a single HLS address, open it in a compatible player. If you want to organise several channels, obtain the channel playlist that references those streams. Looking at the contents is more reliable than looking only at the filename. Many short media segments, duration directives and sequence information suggest a streaming manifest rather than a catalogue of television channels. The tool deliberately avoids converting one format into the other.
Understand import limits and error messages
The first line must identify an extended M3U playlist. A missing header often means that only the URL was pasted, that the beginning of the text was omitted, or that the downloaded response is actually an error page. Do not blindly add a header to unrelated content. Open the original file in a text editor and establish what it contains. A valid-looking first line cannot turn an HTML response into a useful channel list.
The editor accepts absolute HTTP, HTTPS, RTSP, RTMP, UDP and RTP addresses. Relative file paths are not accepted because their meaning may change after export to another folder or device. The input is limited to two MiB and ten thousand entries. This keeps a simple browser workflow manageable on phones as well as desktops. Large video-on-demand collections should be split into smaller, understandable lists before using this interface.
Keep account information out of public examples
Playlist addresses can contain usernames, passwords or access tokens. Local processing means this tool does not upload your file, contact those addresses, or save the input to local browser storage. It does not mean that the exported file is safe to publish. Anyone who receives the file may be able to read the same embedded account information. Treat the download with the same care as the original account configuration.
The clear button removes the current inputs and results from the page. It does not delete a file you already downloaded, erase a screenshot, or change the contents of another application's clipboard. When asking for help, share the error message and a deliberately anonymised example. The built-in demo uses example.com addresses and is a convenient way to understand the editor without exposing any real account details.
Questions before replacing your working playlist
### Does removing duplicates delete channels from my account? No. The editor changes a local text file. It does not sign in, change subscriptions, remove server-side favourites, or modify the provider's catalogue. Importing the new file into a player is a separate action. Keep a backup so you can return to the original list if its metadata suits your setup better.
Can the tool find dead links?
No. An entry is selected according to its name, group and exact address, not its current availability. A dead link can remain and a working duplicate can be removed. Test actual playback in your player after downloading. This distinction avoids exposing private addresses to an unnecessary remote checking service.
Can I merge several files automatically?
The interface reads one complete playlist at a time. It is not a multi-file merger or a synchronised playlist-hosting service. If you combine source lists yourself, review the common header, channel blocks and EPG identifiers carefully. Exact URL deduplication can then help remove repetition, but it cannot resolve conflicting metadata or account rules for you.