Editing a playlist
The Playlist view has three parts: the groups on the left, the streams of the picked group in the middle, and the inspector on the right, with the channel's logo beside the stream list.
The group and stream lists
- The group list shows each group's name, how many streams it has, its Type (Live TV, Movies, Series, Radio, Audio or Mixed) and a status star.
- The stream list shows Play Length, Name, tvg-chno, tvg-shift, tvg-name, tvg-id, tvg-rec, tvg-logo, Parent-Code, Audio-Track, Radio, URL and a status star. Which columns are shown is set under Settings > Groups and Settings > Streams.
- Click a column heading to sort the groups, or the streams of the group, by that column; click again to sort the other way. Sorting is a step you can undo.
- Click the Status heading of either list for a legend: what each colour of star means, and how many of each the group or the playlist has.
- Pick several groups or streams with Ctrl and Shift, as in Explorer.
- Drag streams up or down to put them in a new place, or onto another group to move them there. Drag groups to put them in a new order.
- Press Enter, or double-click a group, to go to its details in the inspector. Double-click a cell of the stream list to go straight to that field; for a field that has an editor of its own (the address, tvg-id, radio) the editor opens.
- The logo of the picked stream is shown beside the list. Right-click it to Save As.. a picture file or Copy image.
The inspector
The inspector shows everything about what is picked, and is where you rename and change things. Pick a line and the box under the inspector explains what that field is for.
- With no group picked it shows the playlist: its file name and where it came from, the provider name (which you can change), the number of groups and streams, and the playlist's own tags and directives, such as the guide address (x-tvg-url) and VLC options that apply to every stream.
- For a group: its name (Group-Name) and how many streams it has.
- For a stream: Play-length, Name, URL and Type (Live TV, Movies, Series, Radio or Audio), then its Tags and its Directives. Every tag the stream has is shown, plus the ones ticked under Settings > Tags and Settings > Directives, so you can fill those in.
- Pick several streams (or groups) and change a field once for all of them. Where their values differ, the inspector shows what they have in common with "…" in place of the part that differs. Type a new value with "…" in it and each keeps its own part: "…" becomes "UK: …" puts "UK: " in front of every name.
The small editors
| Field | What the "..." button opens |
|---|---|
| URL | Runs a Stream Check on the stream. With several streams picked, it runs the Stream Checker on those. |
| tvg-id | The TV Guide ID editor. Pick a Category and a TV Channel from the code set chosen under Settings > TV guide; it opens on the closest match for the stream's name. |
| radio or tvg-radio | Say whether the stream is a radio station (Yes, No, True, False or empty). |
| #EXTVLCOPT | The VLC Player Option editor. Pick a Key (http-user-agent, http-referrer, http-cookie or http-header) and type its Value. A stream can carry several. |
| The playlist's x-tvg-url | The Playlist TV Guide URL editor, for the address of the guide that goes with the playlist. |
Adding, deleting and moving
- Add Group adds a new, empty group; name it in the inspector. Add Stream adds a new stream to the picked group; fill in its name and address in the inspector.
- Add Youtube.. (Ctrl+F1) adds a YouTube video to the picked group as a stream. Paste or type the video's address (one on the clipboard is filled in for you); the studio looks the video up and offers its title as the name and its pictures as the logo, both of which you can change.
- Delete removes whatever is picked in the list that has the focus: groups in the group list, streams in the stream list. The menu commands are Delete Group and Delete Stream.
- Delete empty Groups removes every group with no streams in it.
- Move Up (Ctrl+Up), Move Down (Ctrl+Down), Move to Top (Ctrl+Shift+Up) and Move to Bottom (Ctrl+Shift+Down) move the picked groups or streams, whichever list has the focus.
- To rename, change the name in the inspector.
Cut, copy and paste
- Copy (Ctrl+C) and Cut (Ctrl+X) put the picked streams on the Windows clipboard as M3U text, so you can paste them into another playlist, or into a text editor.
- Paste (Ctrl+V) adds the M3U text on the clipboard to the picked group, wherever it came from. The clipboard is emptied afterwards.
- Copy Special.. (Ctrl+Shift+C, on the toolbar and the stream list's right click menu) copies one field of the picked streams instead of the whole entries, one line per stream: the play length, name, address, status, or any tag or directive you choose. Handy for a list of addresses or guide identifiers.
Numbering and ordering
- Number Streams.. writes a channel number (tvg-chno) on the streams of All Streams or of one group, starting at 1: either Number per group, starting again in every group, or Number all streams consecutively.
- HD Streams on Top.. puts the best pictures at the top of their group, in All Groups or one group. Tick which qualities go up (8K, 4K, FHD, HD, SD); they are told by what the name says (4K, 2160p, FHD, 1080p, 720p, 576p and so on). Streams of the same quality keep their order, and the rest follow.
Filter Streams..
Despite the name, this removes streams. Choose All Groups or one group, then whether to remove the streams that Matches filter(s) or that Does NOT match filter(s). Each filter looks at one field (play length, name, address, or any tag or directive) with Contains, Equals, Starts With, Ends With or Regular Expression; a stream matches when any of the filters matches it. A set of filters can be saved to a file and opened again with the buttons above the list. The removal is one step to undo.
Undo and redo
Every change to a playlist can be undone with Undo (Ctrl+Z) and done again with Redo (Ctrl+Y), each playlist keeping its own history. The Edit menu says what will be undone or redone, for example "Undo delete 12 streams" or "Redo rename group to Sport", and so does the status bar when you point at the Undo or Redo button. Bigger jobs, such as an import, a find and replace or a sort, are one step each.
Search
- Search Bar (Ctrl+F) opens a bar along the foot of the window. Type and press Enter to go to the first stream that matches, then Search Down (F3) and Search Up (F2) for the next and the one before. It looks in the name, the address, the play length and every tag. Earlier searches are kept in its drop-down list.
- Its options: Case Sensitive, Whole Words, Regular Expression and Trim Spaces.
- The bar's buttons move it to the top of the window and back, open the Search Dialog, and close it; closing the bar, or Reset Search, clears the search. The bar searches whichever view is in front.
- Search Dialog.. (Ctrl+Shift+F), also on the stream list's right-click menu, searches in a window of its own: in the Groups (their names), in all Streams, or in the streams of one group, with the same four options and its own up and down buttons.
Find and replace (Ctrl+H)
Replace.. finds text and puts something else in its place. It starts from what is in the search bar.
- In: Stream name, Stream address, Group name, or one Tag you pick.
- Streams: All streams, The selected group or The selected streams. It starts on what you have picked.
- The same four options as the search.
Press Preview to see every change as Group, Before and After, each ticked. Untick the ones you do not want, then press Replace. The lot is one step to undo.
Favourites
Channels you have marked as favourites (in the Player) carry an orange star before their name in the stream list. Tools > Export favourites.. writes everything marked in this playlist out as a playlist of its own, in the same groups, including the episodes of series marked in the Series view.
Parental lock
Right-click a group or streams and choose Lock. With streams picked, those are locked; with none picked, every stream in the group is. A locked stream carries a red star after its name, and the lock is written into the playlist file itself, so it stays locked wherever the file goes.
The lock only works once a code is set, under Settings > Parental lock. From then on, watching a locked stream, sending it to a TV, or recording or downloading it asks for the code first. Once given, the code lasts as long as the setting says: Every time, A quarter of an hour, An hour, or Until the studio is closed. Unlock takes the lock off again, and asks for the code to do it. Locking is not an undo step.
The stream list's right-click menu
Besides the editing commands, it offers Record or download.., Watch, Send to TV.. and Show in TV guide; the pages on watching, recording and the guide explain these.
Shortcuts in the Playlist view
| Command | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New empty M3U | Ctrl+N |
| Open M3U from file.. | Ctrl+O |
| Import.. | Ctrl+I |
| Export.. | Ctrl+E |
| Save | Ctrl+S |
| Save As.. | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y |
| Cut | Ctrl+X |
| Copy | Ctrl+C |
| Copy Special.. | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Paste | Ctrl+V |
| Move Up / Move Down | Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down |
| Move to Top / Move to Bottom | Ctrl+Shift+Up / Ctrl+Shift+Down |
| Add Youtube.. | Ctrl+F1 |
| Search Bar | Ctrl+F |
| Search Down / Search Up | F3 / F2 |
| Search Dialog.. | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Replace.. | Ctrl+H |
Frequently asked questions
What does ERD-Playlist Studio do?
ERD-Playlist Studio builds and looks after IPTV playlists. Open a playlist from a file or from your provider, tidy it up, check which channels still work, match it to a TV guide, and watch, record and download what is on it.
What do I need to run ERD-Playlist Studio?
- Windows 10 or later.
- A 64-bit PC (x64), a Windows on Arm PC (arm64) or a 32-bit PC (x86).
- Administrator rights to install.
- Windows' own media support.
The player says "Windows cannot decode this". What can I do?
The player uses the decoders built into Windows. The "N" editions of Windows ship without Windows' own media support: there the studio starts and works, but the player says "Windows cannot decode this" until you add the Media Feature Pack from Windows' Optional features. When Windows has no decoder for a single track, the player names it (for example "HEVC: no decoder on this computer") and plays the rest of the stream.
Where can a playlist come from?
A file you have (M3U, Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox bouquets, XSPF, ASX, WPL or PLS), an address from your provider, an Xtream Codes account, a Stalker (Ministra) portal, the free channels of iptv-org or radio stations from radio-browser.info.
Which formats can I save and export to?
Save and Save As write M3U (.m3u or .m3u8), Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox, ASX, WPL, PLS or XSPF. Export also writes the ticked groups as an HTML, CSV, JSON, Markdown or XML report. Files are written as UTF-8 text.
Can I undo changes to a playlist?
Yes. Every change to a playlist can be undone with Undo (Ctrl+Z) and done again with Redo (Ctrl+Y), each playlist keeping its own history. Bigger jobs, such as an import, a find and replace or a sort, are one step each. Locking is not an undo step.
How do I find out which channels still work?
Run Stream > Stream Checker... It tries every stream of All Groups or one group and marks each with a green star (online) or a red one (offline). It then reads up to 50 of the streams that answered, and a stream that is not what it says gets a violet star. Delete offline streams removes what was found offline, and can be undone.
What do the coloured stars mean?
Grey: not changed. Blue: changed. Green: online. Red: offline. Violet: not what it says it is. An orange star before a name marks a favourite; a red star after a name marks a locked stream.
How do I merge my provider's new playlist into my own?
Use Tools > Playlist Health Center.. and choose Compare with a provider playlist and apply selected changes. You see every stream the other playlist Added, Removed or Modified, all ticked; untick what you want to keep as it is and press Next to apply the rest. Tick Save as provider profile to keep comparing with that source on a schedule.
How do I keep a playlist up to date with my provider automatically?
Set up a provider profile with Tools > Provider Profiles... While the studio is open it looks every minute for enabled profiles that are due, and brings them up to date in the background. Profiles can also be brought up to date with the studio closed, with M3UEditorCLI sync_all --due-only in Task Scheduler.
Can a provider profile empty my playlist by mistake?
No. When the provider sends back an empty playlist while your target has streams in it, the run stops rather than emptying your playlist. Before any change is made, a snapshot of the target is kept, and the new playlist is only put in place once it has been read back and found sound.
How do I restore an earlier version of a playlist?
Before the Playlist Health Center or a provider profile changes a playlist, the studio saves a copy of it as it was. The last ten are kept for each playlist. Tools > Restore snapshot.. lists them, newest first; the one you pick opens as a separate playlist called Restored- followed by the name.
How do I match my channels to a TV guide?
A guide finds a channel by its tvg-id. Choose an EPG code set (SmartIPTV, BaZnGa or DiamondTV) under Settings > TV guide, then use Tools > Assign EPG Codes.. to write the best match into tvg-id for all groups or one group. The TV Guide ID editor (the "..." beside tvg-id) does the same for one stream.
The TV Guide shows data for only a few of my channels. Why?
The status bar says how many of the playlist's channels the guide actually has data for. A low number usually means the channels' tvg-id tags do not match the guide.
All the times in the guide are an hour out. How do I fix that?
Set Settings > Guide alignment > Guide time offset (minutes, may be negative). Guide alignment is an expert page: tick Show expert settings under Settings > Common to see it. For a single channel, right-click its name in the guide and choose Guide offset.
Can I pause live TV?
Yes. Press Space to pause a live channel; the player keeps recording it into a buffer on disk, so you can carry on where you paused. The size of the buffer is "Live TV kept for pausing (MB, 0 is off)" on the Playback settings page, 512 MB unless you change it.
Can I watch a programme that has already been on?
When your provider keeps catch-up for a channel and the TV Guide knows what is on, Backspace offers the programme on now from its start, and going back past the pause buffer offers the programme at that moment. Press Y to switch.
Which streams can the player not play?
rtsp, rtmp, srt and mms addresses cannot be opened, and the player says so. Neither can streams protected with DRM.
Can I play a stream on my television?
Yes, with Send to TV. It finds Chromecasts, Google TVs and televisions with Google Cast built in, AirPlay receivers such as an Apple TV, and DLNA televisions and players on your network. To put a whole playlist on a television running the Smart IPTV app, use Tools > Send to Smart IPTV...
Can I record while the studio is closed?
Yes. With "RecordingCLI run" going in the background, bookings are recorded and downloads carry on while the studio is closed, and the two hand the work back and forth by themselves. Series rules need the studio, because it reads the guide.
Will my computer wake up for a recording?
While recordings are booked or running, the studio keeps the computer from going to sleep, and sets it to wake up a minute before the next booking. If Windows will not allow either, you are told when you book, so you can leave the computer on or turn on wake timers in the Windows power plan.
What happens when my provider only allows a few connections?
The studio asks the provider (Xtream Codes accounts say) and holds a recording or download back until a connection is free rather than having it refused. When more recordings are due than there are connections, the one with the higher Priority goes first.
Can Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin use my playlist's films and series?
Yes. Tools > STRM Library.. writes the playlist's films and series as a library of small .strm files that Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin can list and play without anything being downloaded, with .nfo files if you like. Downloads can also carry an .nfo file beside them.
Do I need accounts for film details and subtitles?
TMDB and TVDB both need a free account of your own; put the keys under Settings > Databases. No key ships with the studio, and a database with no key is simply not asked. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows account. Subtitles come from OpenSubtitles.com with your own OpenSubtitles API key under Settings > Subtitle search; with no key nothing is fetched, and a user name and password are optional. CDDB and MusicBrainz need no account.
Is my Trakt password stored in the studio?
No. Connect.. under Settings > Trakt shows a code to type on Trakt's website; your Trakt password is never asked for.
How can I lock channels from children?
Right-click a group or streams and choose Lock, and set a code under Settings > Parental lock. From then on, watching a locked stream, sending it to a TV, or recording or downloading it asks for the code first. The lock is written into the playlist file; the code is kept on this computer only and never written into a playlist.
Which languages does ERD-Playlist Studio speak?
Fifteen: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Polish, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Romanian and Swedish. Choose one under Settings > Common > Language and press OK; the whole program changes at once, without restarting.
Can I open two playlists in separate windows?
Yes. Untick "Allow only one instance" under Settings > Instances (an expert page). With more than one window open, the first one looks after the recording schedule, the unattended refresh of your provider profiles, the download queue and the AI assistant connection. Only that window records and downloads, so nothing is done twice.
Can I use ERD-Playlist Studio from scripts?
Yes. M3UEditorCLI works on playlists and RecordingCLI on recordings and downloads. Both answer in JSON on standard output, and several commands can go on one line. "help" after either tool's name lists everything it can do.
Can an AI assistant work with my playlists?
An AI assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can read and edit your playlists, book recordings and look after your downloads: either on the playlist open in the studio (Settings > AI assistants, off by default, only programs on this computer can connect), or on any playlist file with M3UEditorCLI mcp.
Is a licence key needed?
Yes. ERD-Playlist Studio needs a valid licence key to run. Enter it with Help > Activate License..; the command line tools use the same key. Please do not share your key: a key that is shared can be revoked.
Are updates checked to be genuine?
Yes. Before anything is offered, the answer from the update server is checked to be genuine, and the downloaded installer is checked against it before it runs. An update can never take you back to an older version, and your settings are kept.
What does uninstalling leave behind?
The uninstaller leaves your own things where they are: your settings, caches and kept guides, recording schedule and download queue, logs, earlier versions of your playlists, and every recording and download. To start completely afresh, delete the program's folder in your local application data folder and in your Documents folder.